Lonsdaleite
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Formula:
C
Colour:
Transparent brownish-yellow, grayish
Lustre:
Adamantine
Hardness:
7 - 8
Specific Gravity:
3.2
Crystal System:
Hexagonal
Name:
Named in honor of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (nee Yardley) (28 January 1903, Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland - 1 April 1971, London, England), crystallographer who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929. She also worked on the synthesis of diamonds, and was a pioneer in the use of X-rays to study crystals.
Polymorph of:
Originally described as an allotrope of carbon based on a hexagonal lattice (Bundy & Kasper, 1967).
Németh et al. (2014) demonstrated "lonsdaleite" to be a faulted and twinned cubic diamond. He also showed that other reported carbon polymorphs can be explained by twinning and stacking faults.
On the other hand, both Kraus et al. (2016) and Turneaure et al. (2017) have proved lonsdaleite formation (alongside with diamond) - as a separate species - by shock compression of graphite.
Németh et al. (2014) demonstrated "lonsdaleite" to be a faulted and twinned cubic diamond. He also showed that other reported carbon polymorphs can be explained by twinning and stacking faults.
On the other hand, both Kraus et al. (2016) and Turneaure et al. (2017) have proved lonsdaleite formation (alongside with diamond) - as a separate species - by shock compression of graphite.
Classification of Lonsdaleite
Approved
First published:
1967
1/B.02-50
1.CB.10b
1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
C : Metalloids and Nonmetals
B : Carbon-silicon family
1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
C : Metalloids and Nonmetals
B : Carbon-silicon family
Dana 7th ed.:
1.3.5.3
1.3.6.3
1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
3 : Semi-metals and non-metals
1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
3 : Semi-metals and non-metals
1.27
1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)
1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)
Physical Properties of Lonsdaleite
Adamantine
Transparency:
Transparent
Colour:
Transparent brownish-yellow, grayish
Hardness:
7 - 8 on Mohs scale
Hardness Data:
Measured
Comment:
imperfections in natural Lonsdaleite reduce hardness, artificial material has tested harder than diamond (>10) , See Physical Review letters (2009)
Density:
3.2 g/cm3 (Measured) 3.51 g/cm3 (Calculated)
Optical Data of Lonsdaleite
Type:
Uniaxial (+/-)
RI values:
nα = 2.404 nβ = 2.404
Max Birefringence:
δ = 2.404

Image shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness)
and does not take into account mineral colouration.
and does not take into account mineral colouration.
Surface Relief:
Very High
Chemical Properties of Lonsdaleite
Formula:
C
Elements listed:
Crystallography of Lonsdaleite
Crystal System:
Hexagonal
Class (H-M):
6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) - Dihexagonal Dipyramidal
Space Group:
P63/mmc
Cell Parameters:
a = 2.51 Å, c = 4.12 Å
Ratio:
a:c = 1 : 1.641
Unit Cell V:
22.48 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:
4
Morphology:
Fine grained aggregates
Crystal Structure
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Data courtesy of the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database. Click on an AMCSD ID to view structure
ID | Species | Reference | Link | Year | Locality | Pressure (GPa) | Temp (K) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0012989 | Lonsdaleite | Bundy F P, Kasper J S (1967) Hexagonal diamond-a new form of carbon Journal of Chemical Physics 46 3437-3446 | 1967 | 0 | 293 | ||
0013990 | Lonsdaleite | Fayos J (1999) Possible 3D carbon structures as progressive intermediates in graphite to diamond phase transition Journal of Solid State Chemistry 148 278-285 | 1999 | 0 | 293 | ||
0018218 | Lonsdaleite | Yeh C, Lu Z, Froyen S, Zunger A (1992) Zinc-blende-Wurtzite polytypism in semiconductors _cod_database_code 1100004 Physical Review B46 10086-10097 | 1992 | 0 | 293 |
CIF Raw Data - click here to close
Geological Environment
Geological Setting:
In meteorites and kimberlite.
Type Occurrence of Lonsdaleite
Geological Setting of Type Material:
Meteorite
Reference:
Frondel, C. & Marvin, U.B. (1967) Lonsdaleite, a new hexagonal polymorph of diamond. Nature: 214: 587-589.
Synonyms of Lonsdaleite
Other Language Names for Lonsdaleite
Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping
Related Minerals - Dana Grouping (8th Ed.)
Related Minerals - Hey's Chemical Index of Minerals Grouping
1.1 | Copper | Cu | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.2 | Silver | Ag | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.5 | Gold | Au | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.6 | Auricupride | Cu3Au | Orth. |
1.7 | Tetra-auricupride | AuCu | Tet. |
1.8 | Zinc | Zn | Hex. 6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) : P63/mmc |
1.9 | Cadmium | Cd | Hex. 6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) : P63/mmc |
1.10 | Danbaite | CuZn2 | Iso. |
1.11 | Zhanghengite | CuZn | Iso. |
1.12 | Mercury | Hg | Trig. 3m (3 2/m) : R3m |
1.13 | Kolymite | Cu7Hg6 | Iso. |
1.14 | Moschellandsbergite | Ag2Hg3 | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) |
1.15 | Eugenite | Ag11Hg2 | Iso. |
1.16 | Schachnerite | Ag1.1Hg0.9 | Hex. |
1.17 | Paraschachnerite | Ag3Hg2 | Orth. |
1.18 | Luanheite | Ag3Hg | Hex. |
1.19 | Weishanite | (Au,Ag,Hg) | Hex. 6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) : P63/mmc |
1.20 | Indium | In | Tet. |
1.21 | Aluminium | Al | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.22 | Khatyrkite | (Cu,Zn)Al2 | Tet. |
1.23 | Cupalite | (Cu,Zn)Al | Orth. |
1.24 | Diamond | C | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fd3m |
1.25 | Graphite | C | Hex. 6mm : P63mc |
1.26 | Chaoite | C | Hex. 6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) : P6/mmm |
1.28 | Silicon | Si | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fd3m |
1.29 | Tin | Sn | Tet. 4/mmm (4/m 2/m 2/m) : I41/amd |
1.30 | Lead | Pb | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.31 | Anyuiite | AuPb2 | Tet. 4/mmm (4/m 2/m 2/m) : I4/mcm |
1.31 | Novodneprite | AuPb3 | Tet. 4 2m : I4 2m |
1.32 | Leadamalgam | Pb0.7Hg0.3 | Tet. 4/mmm (4/m 2/m 2/m) : I4/mmm |
1.33 | Arsenic | As | Trig. 3m (3 2/m) : R3m |
1.34 | Arsenolamprite | As | Orth. mmm (2/m 2/m 2/m) |
1.35 | Paxite | CuAs2 | Mon. |
1.36 | Koutekite | Cu5As2 | Hex. |
1.37 | Domeykite | Cu3As | Iso. 4 3m : I4 3d |
1.38 | Algodonite | (Cu1-xAsx) | Hex. 6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) : P63/mmc |
1.39 | Novákite | Cu20AgAs10 | Mon. |
1.40 | Kutinaite | Ag6Cu14As7 | Iso. |
1.41 | Antimony | Sb | Trig. 3m (3 2/m) : R3m |
1.42 | Stibarsen | AsSb | Trig. 3m (3 2/m) : R3m |
1.43 | Paradocrasite | Sb3As | Mon. 2 : B2 |
1.44 | Horsfordite | Cu, Sb | |
1.45 | Cuprostibite | Cu2(Sb,Tl) | Tet. 4/mmm (4/m 2/m 2/m) : P4/nmm |
1.46 | Allargentum | (Ag1-xSbx) | Hex. |
1.47 | Aurostibite | AuSb2 | Iso. m3 (2/m 3) : Pa3 |
1.48 | Dyscrasite | Ag3Sb | Orth. mm2 : Pmm2 |
1.49 | Bismuth | Bi | Trig. 3m (3 2/m) : R3m |
1.50 | Maldonite | Au2Bi | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fd3m |
1.51 | Sulphur | S8 | Orth. mmm (2/m 2/m 2/m) : Fddd |
1.52 | Rosickýite | S | Mon. 2/m : P2/b |
1.53 | Selenium | Se | Trig. 3 2 : P31 2 1 |
1.54 | Tellurium | Te | Trig. 3 2 : P31 2 1 |
1.55 | Chromium | Cr | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Im3m |
1.56 | Rhenium | Re | Hex. |
1.57 | Iron | Fe | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Im3m |
1.58 | Chromferide | Fe3Cr1-x (x=0.6) | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Pm3m |
1.59 | Ferchromide | Cr3Fe1-x | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Pm3m |
1.60 | Wairauite | CoFe | Iso. |
1.61 | Nickel | Ni | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.62 | Kamacite | (Fe,Ni) | Iso. |
1.63 | Taenite | (Fe,Ni) | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.64 | Tetrataenite | FeNi | Tet. |
1.65 | Awaruite | Ni3Fe | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.66 | Palladium | (Pd,Pt) | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.67 | Potarite | PdHg | Tet. 4/mmm (4/m 2/m 2/m) : P4/mmm |
1.68 | Paolovite | Pd2Sn | Orth. |
1.69 | Stannopalladinite | (Pd,Cu)3Sn2 | Hex. |
1.70 | Cabriite | Pd2CuSn | Orth. mmm (2/m 2/m 2/m) : Pmmm |
1.71 | Taimyrite | (Pd,Cu,Pt)3Sn | Orth. |
1.72 | Atokite | (Pd,Pt)3Sn | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.73 | Rustenburgite | (Pt,Pd)3Sn | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.74 | Zvyagintsevite | Pd3Pb | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Pm3n |
1.75 | Plumbopalladinite | Pd3Pb2 | Hex. |
1.76 | Osmium | (Os,Ir,Ru) | Hex. 6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) : P63/mmc |
1.77 | Iridium | (Ir,Os,Ru) | Iso. |
1.82 | Platinum | Pt | Iso. m3m (4/m 3 2/m) : Fm3m |
1.83 | Hongshiite | PtCu | Trig. |
1.84 | Niggliite | PtSn | Hex. |
1.85 | Isoferroplatinum | Pt3Fe | Iso. |
1.86 | Tetraferroplatinum | PtFe | Tet. |
1.87 | Tulameenite | Pt2CuFe | Tet. |
1.88 | Ferronickelplatinum | Pt2FeNi | Tet. |
1.89 | Rhodium | (Rh,Pt) | Iso. |
Other Information
Health Risks:
No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.
References for Lonsdaleite
Reference List:
Sort by Year (asc) | by Year (desc) | by Author (A-Z) | by Author (Z-A)
Frondel, C. & Marvin, U.B. (1967) Lonsdaleite, a new hexagonal polymorph of diamond. Nature: 214: 587-589.
Frondel, C. & Marvin, U.B. (1967) Lonsdaleite, a hexagonal polymorph of diamond. American Mineralogist: 52: 1579-xx.
Hanneman R.E., Strong H.M., Bundy, F.P. (1967) Hexagonal diamonds in meteorites: implications. Science: 155: 995-997.
Bundy, F.P., Kasper, J.S. (1967) Hexagonal Diamond—A New Form of Carbon. Journal of Chemical Physics: 46(9): 3437-3446.
Kaminskii, F.V., G.K. Blinova, E.M. Galimov, G.A. Gurkina, Y.A. Klyuev, L.A. Kodina, V.I. Koptil, V.F. Krivonos, L.N. Frolova, and A.Y. Khrenov (1985) Polycrystalline aggregates of diamond with lonsdaleite from Yakutian [Sakhan] placers. Mineral. Zhurnal: 7: 27-36.
He, Hongliang, Sekine, T. & Kobayashi, T. (2002) Direct transformation of cubic diamond to hexagonal diamond. Applied Physics Letters: 81(4): 610.
Pan, Zicheng; Sun, Hong; Zhang, Yi and Chen, Changfeng (2009) Harder than Diamond: Superior Indentation Strength of Wurtzite BN and Lonsdaleite. Physical Review Letters: 102: 055503. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.055503
Németh, Péter; Garvie, Laurence A.J.; Aoki, Toshihiro; Dubrovinskaia, Natalia; Dubrovinsky, Leonid and Buseck, Peter R. (2014) Lonsdaleite is faulted and twinned cubic diamond and does not exist as a discrete material. Nature Communications: 5: 5447.
Kraus, D., Ravasio, A., Gauthier, M., Gericke, D.O., Vorberger, J.,Frydrych, S., Helfrich, J., Fletcher, L.B., Schaumann, G., Nagler, B., Barbrel, B., Bachmann, B., Gamboa, E.J., Goede, S., Granados, E., Gregori, G., Lee, H.J., Neumayer, P., Schumaker, W., Doeppner, T., Falcone, R.W., Glenzer, S.H., Roth, M. (2016) Nanosecond formation of diamond and lonsdaleite by shock compression of graphite. Nature Communications: 7: 10970.
Turneaure, Stefan J., Sharma, Surinder M., Volz, T.J., Winey, J. M., Gupta, Yogendra M. (2017) Transformation of shock-compressed graphite to hexagonal diamond in nanoseconds. Science Advances: 3(10): eaao3561.
Internet Links for Lonsdaleite
mindat.org URL:
https://www.mindat.org/min-2431.html
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Localities for Lonsdaleite
Locality List




All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.
Antarctica | |
| Nature 291:396-398 (1981) |
Australia | |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
Vdovykin, G. P. (1970) Ureilites: Space Science Reviews 10(4): 483-510. (Feb 1970). | |
China | |
| I. Leung and R. Winston, Eos. Trans. AGU, 83(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract #####-##, 2002, MR61A-1028 0830h POSTER |
Finland | |
| Vdovykin, G.P. 1972. Forms of carbon in the new Haverö ureilite of Finland. Meteoritics 7 (4) 547-552. |
India | |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510.; Nakamuta, Y., & Toh, S. (2013). Transformation of graphite to lonsdaleite and diamond in the Goalpara ureilite directly observed by TEM. American Mineralogist, 98(4), 574-581. |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
Kazakhstan | |
| Dubinchuk, V. T., Simakov, S. K., & Pechnikov, V. A. (2010, January). Lonsdaleite in diamond-bearing metamorphic rocks of the Kokchetav Massif. In Doklady Earth Sciences (Vol. 430, No. 1, pp. 40-42). MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica. |
| Shumilova, T. G., Mayer, E., & Isaenko, S. I. (2011, November). Natural monocrystalline lonsdaleite. In Doklady Earth Sciences (Vol. 441, No. 1, pp. 1552-1554). SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica. |
New Zealand | |
| Bunch, T.E., Wittke, J.H., Kennett, J.P., Kennett, D.J., Que Hee, S.S., Wolbach, W.S., Stich, A., Mercer, C., Weaver, J.C., 2008. Hexagonal Diamonds (Lonsdaleite) Discovered in the K/T Impact Layer in Spain and New Zealand, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, pp. PP13C-1476. |
Russia | |
| Kvasnytsya, V., Wirth, R., Dobrzhinetskaya, L., Matzel, J., Jacobsen, B., Hutcheon, I., ... & Kovalyukh, M. (2013). New evidence of meteoritic origin of the Tunguska cosmic body. Planetary and Space Science, 84, 131-140. |
| P.H. Nixon, (1995) The morphology and nature of primary diamondiferous occurrences, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, Volume 53, Issues 1–3, March 1995, Pages 41-71 |
Ohfuji, H., Irifune, T., Litasov, K. D., Yamashita, T., Isobe, F., Afanasiev, V. P., & Pokhilenko, N. P. (2015). Natural occurrence of pure nano-polycrystalline diamond from impact crater. Scientific reports, 5, 14702. | |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
| Seliverstov V.A., Gorshkov A.I., Shcheka S.A., Sivtsov A.V. (1996) Diamonds and carbonadoof Primorskii Krai: mineralogy, crystal; chemistry and genesis, - Geologiya Rudnyh Mestorozhdenii, v.38, №6, p.485-499 (in Russian). |
USA (TL) | |
| Anthony, J.W., et al (1995), Mineralogy of Arizona, 3rd.ed.: 203, 280; Frondel, C. & U.B. Marvin (1967a), Lonsdaleite, a new hexagonal polymorph of diamond. Nature: 214: 587-589; Frondel, C. & U.B. Marvin (1967b), Lonsdaleite, a hexagonal polymorph of diamond, Am.Min.: 52: 1576. |
| Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 40, Dec. 1976, p. 1429-1437. |