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Rutile’s fiery brilliance

Nature Geoscience volume 16, pages 764–765 (2023)Cite this article

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From pressure indicator to paint brightener, Alicia Cruz-Uribe examines the many uses of rutile.

Rutile is the most thermodynamically stable form of titanium dioxide — TiO2 — under most geologic conditions, and typically occurs as an accessory mineral in metamorphic and igneous rocks. Titanite (calcium titanium silicate) hosts titanium at low pressures and temperatures, but gives way to rutile at depths greater than ~30 km in the Earth. Ilmenite (titanium iron oxide) is the primary titanium phase at low pressures and high temperatures (above ~700–800 °C), but again yields to rutile when the pressure is on. Thus, rutile has long been heralded in the mineralogical community as a critical indicator mineral for high and ultra-high pressure conditions1.

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  1. School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Alicia M. Cruz-Uribe

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  1. Alicia M. Cruz-Uribe
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Correspondence to Alicia M. Cruz-Uribe.

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Cruz-Uribe, A.M. Rutile’s fiery brilliance. Nat. Geosci. 16, 764–765 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01263-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01263-7

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