Tissintite

(Ca,Na,◻)AlSi2O6
IMA status
  • Approved
IMA symbol
Tss
IMA approved
2013
Also known as
  • IMA2013-027
  • Tissintiet

Where it forms, where it's found

Geological setting

Commonly observed included within, or in contact with, shock-melt pockets in the Tissint meteorite, a depleted olivine-phyric shergottite fall from Mars.

Type locality
Tissint Martian meteorite
  1. Tata Cercle
  2. Tata Province
  3. Souss-Massa Region
  4. Morocco

29.4819°, -7.6108°

4recorded occurrences
Source · OpenStreetMap

Physical

Density
3.395 g/cm³

Crystallography

Crystal system
Monoclinic
Space group
C2/c
Cell parameters
a = 9.418(17) Å · b = 8.562(4) Å · c = 5.219(2) Å
Cell angles
β = 107.56(9) °
Ratio a:b:c
1 : 0.909 : 0.554
Unit cell volume
410 ų
Z
4
Type-locality form

In maskelynite (shocked plagioclase) less than ∼25 μm of a shock melt pocket.

Synonyms

  • IMA2013-027
  • Tissintiet

In other languages

German
IMA 2013-027 · Tissintit
Italian
tissintite

Classification

Strunz
10th ed.

9.DA.25

  • 9SilicatesClass
  • 9.DInosilicatesDivision
  • 9.DAInosilicates with 2-periodic single chains, Si2O6; pyroxene familyGroup
  • 9.DA.25TissintiteSpecies

Group, growth & confusion

In the same group
25 members

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. 2013Williams, P. A., Hatert, F., Pasero, M., Mills, S. J. (2013) New minerals and nomenclature modifications approved in 2013. CNMNC Newsletter No 16. Mineralogical Magazine, 77 (6) 2695-2709 doi:10.1180/minmag.2013.077.6.01DOI: 10.1180/minmag.2013.077.6.01
  3. 2014Ma, C., Tschauner, O., Liu, Y., Beckett, J.R., Rossman, G.R., Zuravlev, K., Prakapenka, V., Dera, P., Sinogeikin, S., Smith, J., Taylor, L.A. (2014) Discovery of Ahrensite gamma-Fe2SiO4 and Tissintite (Ca, Na, □) AlSi2O6: Two New High Pressure Minerals from the Tissint Martian Meteorite. 45th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
  4. 2014Ma, Chi, Tschauner, Oliver, Beckett, John R., Liu, Yang, Rossman, George R., Zuravlev, Kirill, Prakapenka, Vitali, Dera, Przemyslaw, Sinogeikin, Stanislav, Smith, Jesse, Taylor, Lawrence A. (2014) First New Minerals from Mars: Discovery of Ahrensite γ-Fe2SiO4 and Tissintite (Ca,Na,□)AlSi2O6, Two High Pressure Phases from the Tissint Martian Meteorite. Eighth International Conference on Mars.
  5. 2015Ma, Chi, Tschauner, Oliver, Beckett, John R., Liu, Yang, Rossman, George R., Zhuravlev, Kirill, Prakapenka, Vitali, Dera, Przemyslaw, Taylor, Lawrence A. (2015) Tissintite, (Ca, Na, □)AlSi2O6, a highly-defective, shock-induced, high-pressure clinopyroxene in the Tissint martian meteorite. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 422. 194-205 doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.03.057DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.03.057
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
  author    = {Mineral Index editorial board},
  title     = {Tissintite — Mineral Index},
  year      = {2026},
  url       = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/tissintite-43890},
  note      = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}