The most abundant mineral on earth is bridgmanite (also known as silicate perovskite). In fact, it is estimated that 36 to 38% of the volume of the planet is made of this substance.
If you have never heard of bridgmanite, it is probably because it was identified only in the past few years. Because it is normally found 400 to 1600 miles underneath the surface of the planet, no one previously named it, as no one had ever seen it. However, geologists finally located a sample within a meteorite which had been exposed to intense pressure (called a "shocked" meteorite), and bridgmanite is now an official mineral. It is made out of magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. It was named after Percy Bridgman, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1945 for his research on the properties of matter under high pressure.
Ironically (or should I say "bridgmanitecally"), although it is the most abundant mineral on earth, it is also probably the scarcest, due to its inaccessibility.
Ironically (or should I say "bridgmanitecally"), although it is the most abundant mineral on earth, it is also probably the scarcest, due to its inaccessibility.
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