Bridgmanite is the new name for the most abundant mineral on earth. It makes up about 70 per cent of the earth’s lower mantle (660 to 2890 km beneath the planet’s surface) and 38 per cent of the total volume of earth. It is made up of high-density magnesium iron silicate.
Bridgmanite makes up around 38% of the planet’s total volume, meaning it is by far the most abundant mineral on Earth. Although scientists have known about its existence for years, they had not been able to observe, analyze, or name the mineral because it does not (and cannot) rise from the depths of the lower mantle to the surface of the Earth. It was historically referred to as perovskite, as the International Mineralogical Association does not allow formal names for minerals unless they have been examined in person.
That all changed in 2014 when mineralogists found bridgmanite in a meteorite that had crashed into Australia in 1879. During impact, the meteorite was subjected to temperatures in excess of 3600 degrees F and pressures around 24 gigapascal, similar to what is found in the lower mantle. Bridgmanite was named in honor of Percy Bridgman, who won a Nobel Prize in 1946 for his research of materials at very high pressures.
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