title: Earth's Phosphides in Levant and insights into the source of Archean prebiotic phosphorus.
abstract: Natural phosphides--the minerals containing phosphorus in a redox state lower than zero--are common constituents of meteorites but virtually unknown on the Earth. Herein we present the first rich occurrence of iron-nickel phosphides of terrestrial origin. Phosphide-bearing rocks are exposed in three localities in the surroundings of the Dead Sea, Levant: in the northern Negev Desert, Israel and Transjordan Plateau, south of Amman, Jordan. Seven minerals from the ternary Fe-Ni-P system have been identified with five of them, NiP2, Ni5P4, Ni2P, FeP and FeP2, previously unknown in nature. The results of the present study could provide a new insight on the terrestrial origin of natural phosphides--the most likely source of reactive prebiotic phosphorus at the times of the early Earth.
authors: 1] Institute of Geosciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia [2] Nanomaterials Research Center, Kola Science Center of RAS, Fersman Str. 18, 184200 Apatity, Russia.
authors: Sergey N
authors: SN
authors: Britvin
authors: Institute of Geosciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors: Michail N
authors: MN
authors: Murashko
authors: Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
authors: Yevgeny
authors: Y
authors: Vapnik
authors: Institute of Geosciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors: Yury S
authors: YS
authors: Polekhovsky
authors: 1] Institute of Geosciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya Nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia [2] Nanomaterials Research Center, Kola Science Center of RAS, Fersman Str. 18, 184200 Apatity, Russia.
authors: Sergey V
authors: SV
authors: Krivovichev