{{Short description|Organic mineral, a nickel porphyrine derivative}} {{Infobox mineral | name = Abelsonite | category = Organic minerals | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = File:Abelsonite - Green River Formation, Uintah County, Utah, USA.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Abelsonite from the Green River Formation, Uintah County, Utah, US | formula = C<sub>31</sub>H<sub>32</sub>N<sub>4</sub>Ni<ref name=handbook/> | IMAsymbol = Abl<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}</ref> | molweight = | strunz = 10.CA.20 | dana = 50.4.9.1 | system = Triclinic | symmetry = P{{overline|1}} (No. 2){{sfn|Hummer|Noll|Hazen|Downs|2017|pp=1129-1132}} | unit cell = a = 8.508, b = 11.185 Å<br>c = 7.299&nbsp;[Å], α = 90.85°<br>β = 114.1°, γ = 79.99° <br/>Z&nbsp;=&nbsp;1<ref name=handbook/> | color = Pink-purple, dark greyish purple, pale purplish red, reddish brown | habit = | twinning = | cleavage = Probable on {11{{overbar|1}}}<ref name=handbook/> | fracture = Fragile<ref name=webmin/> | tenacity = | mohs = 2&ndash;3 | luster = Adamantine, sub-metallic | polish = | refractive = | opticalprop = Biaxial<ref name=handbook/> | birefringence = | 2V = | dispersion = | pleochroism = | fluorescence= Non-fluorescent<ref name=webmin>{{cite web|title=Abelsonite|url=https://webmineral.com/data/Abelsonite.shtml|publisher=Webmineral|access-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref> | absorption = Strong reddish brown to reddish black<ref name=handbook/> | streak = Pink | gravity = 1.45 | density = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | diaphaneity = Semitransparent<ref name=handbook/> | other = | references =<ref name=mindat>{{cite web|title=Abelsonite|url=http://www.mindat.org/min-1.html|publisher=Mindat|access-date=December 21, 2012}}</ref> }} '''Abelsonite''' is a nickel porphyrin mineral with chemical formula C<sub>31</sub>H<sub>32</sub>N<sub>4</sub>Ni. It was discovered in 1969 in the U.S. State of Utah and described in 1975. The mineral is named after geochemist Philip H. Abelson. It is the only known crystalline geoporphyrin.

==Description== Abelsonite is semitransparent and pink-purple, dark greyish purple, pale purplish red, or reddish brown in color.<ref name=handbook/><ref name=mindat/> The mineral occurs as thin laths or plates or small aggregates up to {{convert|1|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=handbook/> The mineral is soluble in benzene and acetone and is insoluble in water, dilute hydrochloric acid, and dilute nitric acid.{{sfn|Milton|Dwornik|Estep-Barnes|Finkelman|1978|p=932}}

==Occurrence and formation== The mineral is known only from the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation.{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}} It has been known from the Uinta Basin in Utah since its discovery and from the Piceance Basin in Colorado since 1985.{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}} Abelsonite occurs in association with albite, analcime, dolomite, mica, orthoclase, pyrite, and quartz.<ref name=handbook>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/abelsonite.pdf |title=Abelsonite |encyclopedia=Handbook of Mineralogy |editor1-first=John W. |editor1-last=Anthony|editor2-first=Richard A. |editor2-last=Bideaux|editor3-first=Kenneth W. |editor3-last=Bladh|editor4-first= Monte C. |editor4-last=Nichols |publisher=Mineralogical Society of America|location=Chantilly, VA}}</ref>

Abelsonite is a secondary mineral that formed in fractures, vugs, and bedding planes of oil shale.<ref name=handbook/>{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}} The mineral probably formed from diagenesis of chlorophyll, likely chlorophyll ''a'', which was transported as an aqueous solution into a favorable geologic setting. {{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}}{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=594}} Alternative source are Methanogen Archea, where close compound is used in Cofactor F430 critical for methane production.

In 2003, abelsonite was fully synthesized for the first time.{{sfn|Zhang|Lash|2003|p=7253}}

==Structure== thumb|left|Structure of abelsonite In 1989, abelsonite was the only known geoporphyrin to have a crystalline structure.{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}}{{#tag:ref|So far as the authors were aware{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}}|group=lower-alpha}} Most geoporphyrins occur as a series of homologues spanning a large range of carbon numbers.{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}} The porphyrin which comprises abelsonite is common, but it does not usually occur in isolation from other porphyrins.{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=593}}

The mineral is a deoxophylloerythroetioporphyrin (DPEP), with nickel occupying the center of the porphyrin ring. Most of the mineral consists of a C<sub>31</sub> porphyrin with small quantities of a C<sub>30</sub> norisomer.{{sfn|Storm|Krane|Skjetne|Telnaes|1984|p=1075}} The mineral crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system.<ref name=handbook/>

==History== The mineral was first noted in 1969 in a core sample made by the Western Oil Shale Corporation in Uintah County, Utah.{{sfn|Milton|Dwornik|Estep-Barnes|Finkelman|1978|pp=930–931}} It was described in 1975 in the journal ''Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fleischer|first=Michael|title=New Mineral Names|journal=American Mineralogist|date=May–June 1976|volume=61|issue=5&ndash;6|url=http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM61/AM61_502.pdf|page=502}}</ref> The mineral was named after Philip H. Abelson (1913–2004), a long-time editor of the journal ''Science'',{{sfn|Mason|Trudell|Branthaver|1989|p=585}} for his work in organic geochemistry.{{sfn|Milton|Dwornik|Estep-Barnes|Finkelman|1978|p=931}}

Type specimens are held in The Natural History Museum in London and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.<ref name=handbook/>

==See also== * List of minerals

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

;Bibliography *{{cite journal |last1=Hummer |first1=D.R. |last2=Noll |first2=B.C. |last3=Hazen |first3=R.M. |last4=Downs |first4=R.T. |journal=American Mineralogist |volume=102 |year=2017 |pages=1129–1132 |title=Crystal structure of abelsonite, the only known crystalline geoporphyrin}} *{{cite journal|last1=Mason|first1=G. M.|last2=Trudell|first2=L. G.|last3=Branthaver|first3=J. F.|title=Review of the stratigraphic distribution and diagenetic history of abelsonite|journal=Organic Geochemistry|year=1989|volume=14|issue=6|pages=585&ndash;594|doi=10.1016/0146-6380(89)90038-7}} {{subscription required}} *{{cite journal|last1=Milton|first1=C.|last2=Dwornik|first2=E. J.|last3=Estep-Barnes|first3=P. A.|last4=Finkelman|first4=R. B.|last5=Pabst|first5=A.|last6=Palmer|first6=S.|title=Abelsonite, nickel porphyrin: A new mineral from the Green River Formation, Utah|journal=American Mineralogist|date=September–October 1978|volume=63|issue=9&ndash;10|pages=930&ndash;937|url=http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM63/AM63_930.pdf}} *{{cite journal|last1=Storm|first1=C. B.|last2=Krane|first2=J.|last3=Skjetne|first3=T.|last4=Telnaes|first4=N.|last5=Branthaver|first5=J. F.|last6=Baker|first6=E. W.|title=The structure of abelsonite|journal=Science|year=1984|volume=223|issue=4640|pages=1075&ndash;1076|jstor=1693019|doi=10.1126/science.223.4640.1075|pmid=17830155|bibcode=1984Sci...223.1075S|s2cid=19850858}} {{subscription required}} *{{cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=B.|last2=Lash|first2=T. D.|title=Total synthesis of the porphyrin mineral abelsonite and related petroporphyrins with five-membered exocyclic rings|journal=Tetrahedron Letters|date=September 2003|volume=44|issue=39|pages=7253–7256|doi=10.1016/j.tetlet.2003.08.007}} {{subscription required}}

==External links== {{commons category}} {{Wiktionary}} *[http://www.mindat.org/gallery.php?min=1 Images of abelsonite] from mindat.org

Category:Nickel minerals Category:Organic minerals Category:Triclinic minerals Category:Minerals in space group 2 Category:Minerals described in 1975 Category:Green River Formation