Stöfflerite

CaAl2Si2O8
IMA status
  • Approved
IMA symbol
Sff
IMA approved
2017
Also known as
  • Stöffleriet

Where it forms, where it's found

Geological setting

Meteorite shock melt pocket.

Type locality
Northwest Africa 856 Martian meteorite (NWA 856
  1. Djel Ibone Martian meteorite)
  2. Northwest Africa Meteorites
3recorded occurrences
Source · OpenStreetMap

Physical

Transparency
Transparent
Colour
Colorless

Crystallography

Crystal system
Tetragonal
Space group
#135
Cell parameters
a = 9.255(1) Å · c = 2.745(3) Å
Z
2
Type-locality form

Fine-grained crystalline masses with a grain size of 20+/-5 nm.

Chemical composition

Constituent elements
Mass composition breakdown
ElementAtoms At. mass g/mol Mass g/molMass share
8OOxygenOxygen815.999127.992
46.01%
14SiSiliconSilicon228.08556.170
20.19%
13AlAluminiumAluminium226.98253.964
19.40%
20CaCalciumCalcium140.07840.078
14.40%
Total278.204100.00%

Mass share = atoms × atomic mass ÷ molar mass × 100

From IMA formula

Synonyms

  • Stöffleriet

In other languages

German
IMA 2017-062 · Stöfflerit

Classification

Strunz
10th ed.

9.FA.70

  • 9SilicatesClass
  • 9.FTektosilicates without zeolitic H2ODivision
  • 9.FATektosilicates without additional non-tetrahedral anionsGroup
  • 9.FA.70StöffleriteSpecies

Group, growth & confusion

Commonly confused with
3 minerals

Literature, links & citation

Citations
  1. Spray, J.G., Tschauner, O., Ma, C., Thompson, L.M., Hopkins, R.H. (2023): In situ shock veins on Earth: Donwilhelmsite, maskelynite, stishovite, stöfflerite, tissintite (and more) from the Manicouagan impact structure. 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract #1307.
  2. 2017Hålenius, U., Hatert, F., Pasero, M., Mills, S. J. (2017) New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2017, CNMNC Newsletter No 39. Mineralogical Magazine, 81 (5) 1279-1286 doi:10.1180/minmag.2017.081.072DOI: 10.1180/minmag.2017.081.072
  3. 2021www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin (2021) https://www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/pressemitteilungen/interesting-news-natural-history-museum-berlin-discovery-new-mineral-stofflerite
  4. 2021Tschauner, Oliver, Ma, Chi, Spray, John G., Greenberg, Eran, Prakapenka, Vitali B. (2021) Stöfflerite, (Ca,Na)(Si,Al)4O8 in the hollandite structure: A new high-pressure polymorph of anorthite from martian meteorite NWA 856. American Mineralogist, 106 (4) 650-655 doi:10.2138/am-2021-7563DOI: 10.2138/am-2021-7563
  5. 2023(2023) Stöfflerite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
  author    = {Mineral Index editorial board},
  title     = {Stöfflerite — Mineral Index},
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/stofflerite-52171},
  note      = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}