A newly formed material, which has never been seen on Earth before, has been created by a lightning strike – a phenomenon that could potentially be associated with the origin of life.

The piece of fossilized lightning, or fulgurite, that contained the potential new mineral. Image credit: Bindi et al. 2023 (CC BY 4.0)

A new phosphorus mineral never before seen on earth has emerged when lightning hit a tree near New Port Richey, Florida. The bolt initiated a chemical process and produced what could be the member of new group of minerals, exhibiting characteristics that are intermediate between terrestrial minerals and space minerals.

“We have never seen this material occur naturally on Earth,” Mathew Pasek, a geoscientist at the University of South Florida, said in a statement. “Minerals similar to it can be found in meteorites and space, but we’ve never seen this exact material anywhere.”

Pasek, who researches chemical reactions of high energy similar to those stimulated by lightning, bought the fossilized lightning chunk, or fulgurite, from the tree’s owner. Fulgurites are created when intense lightning strikes travel through the ground, causing the adjacent soil, sand, rock, and organic matter to fuse together into a unified metallic-looking mass.

When Pasek and his colleagues split open the rocky lump, measuring approximately 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) in length and 0.8 inches (2 cm) in width, inside they found a “colorful, crystal-like substance.” Upon further examination, the researchers concluded that the enigmatic substance was a novel material comprised primarily of calcium phosphate (CaHPO3).

Although the team is confident that the newly found substance is a new variety of mineral, it will require some time for verification by other experts in the field. They presented their findings in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

An electron microscope image of the fulgurite showcases the probable new mineral, featuring a dark grey color and adorned with tiny metallic speckles. Image credit: Bindi et al. 2023 (CC BY 4.0)

In the course of their investigation, the scientists attempted to produce the mineral artificially in a laboratory, but their efforts were unsuccessful. The researchers propose that the reason for the failure to reproduce the novel material is its propensity to form quickly under specific conditions that are challenging to anticipate and simulate accurately. Despite their efforts, each attempt ended in failure due to the fact that the compound was exposed to high temperatures for an extended period, causing it to disintegrate into another substance.

The researchers are optimistic that this variety of calcium phosphate will be recognized as a new type of mineral and bestowed with an official name. Additionally, they speculate that comparable mechanisms could generate other innovative mineral types and intend to scrutinize additional fulgurites to test this hypothesis.

Small spheres composed of metallic, gray material located inside the fulgurite, measuring 1.1 cm (left) and 0.5 cm (right) in diameter. Image credit: Bindi et al. 2023 (CC BY 4.0)

“Previous researchers indicate that lightning reduction of phosphate to have been a widespread phenomenon on the early Earth,” said co-principal investigator Dr Tian Feng, a graduate of USF’s geology program. “However, there is an environmental phosphite reservoir issue in Earth that these solid phosphite materials are hard to restore.”

Dr Feng added that this research has the potential to uncover other viable configurations of reduced minerals, many of which might have played a crucial role in the evolution of life on our planet.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4