classification of physical anomalies
Submissions to the registry are reviewed against a small set of recurring observation patterns. The classification scheme below is internal to the registry and has no official standing in the wider mineralogical or materials-science literature. It is retained here to give a stable vocabulary for cross-referencing records and for ordering the workload of the analytical passes.
Classes I and II are bookkeeping categories and account for the large majority of flagged records. Classes III through V denote observations for which no satisfactory mechanism has been proposed within the framework employed by the registry. Records in these higher classes are reviewed periodically and may be downgraded if a routine explanation becomes available.
summary of holdings, by class
| class | flagged records |
|---|---|
| class I · composition deviation | 28 |
| class II · structural anomaly | 12 |
| class III · persistent-state anomaly | 8 |
| class IV · spectral coherence anomaly | 7 |
| class V · indeterminate | 3 |
Class I and Class II figures reflect bookkeeping totals from the registry's internal triage logs and are not represented one-for-one in the public catalogue at this time. Class III, IV, and V records are individually retrievable from the records below.
Specimens whose elemental composition deviates from the type definition by more than 5 mol%, but whose other properties are otherwise consistent with reference data.
Class I is the broadest and least diagnostic category. Most submissions assigned to it represent the ordinary spread of natural variability and are retained primarily for completeness of the locality record. Class I assignments are not, by themselves, treated as research priorities.
No public records under this class are individually retrievable in the prototype interface.
Specimens exhibiting habit, twinning, polymorphism, or lattice parameters inconsistent with reference data for the stated species.
Class II covers cases where the chemistry is unremarkable but the physical arrangement of atoms departs from what is expected. The majority of Class II assignments resolve, on closer inspection, to known polymorphs or growth-condition artefacts. A small minority do not.
No public records under this class are individually retrievable in the prototype interface.
Specimens whose physical state — magnetic, electronic, or mechanical — persists across perturbations that should erase it under standard models.
Class III is the first category in which the registry treats the underlying observation as a research question rather than a curatorial detail. Persistence here means the retention of a measured state through thermal cycling, mechanical perturbation, or repeated demagnetisation that, by the published behaviour of the stated material, ought to leave no trace. Where Class III assignments have been independently re-tested, the persistence has, to date, reproduced.
representative records
| accession | designation | submitted |
|---|---|---|
| AM-2010-10001-B | Pyrite, anomaly under review | 2010-05-28 |
| AM-2012-00833-A | Pyrrhotite, anomalous magnetic response | 2012-05-23 |
| AM-2014-02180-B | Bornite, anomalous transport behaviour | 2014-08-04 |
| AM-2016-10001-B | Pyrite, anomaly under review | 2016-10-23 |
| AM-2017-10001-B | Magnetite, anomaly under review | 2017-01-17 |
| AM-2019-04471-A | Unidentified crystalline material | 2019-08-04 |
| AM-2020-10001-B | Hematite, anomaly under review | 2020-09-23 |
| AM-2024-10001-B | Pyrite, anomaly under review | 2024-09-10 |
Specimens whose spectroscopic response shows internal coherence — temporal, spatial, or relational — that exceeds the bounds expected from the stated composition and environment.
Class IV is reserved for specimens where the analytical signal itself behaves in an unexpectedly ordered fashion: peaks that drift coherently rather than randomly, features that re-establish on a characteristic timescale, or signatures that recur across compositionally unrelated specimens. The registry does not advance hypotheses regarding mechanism. Cross-references between Class IV records are maintained where shared spectral features have been observed.
representative records
| accession | designation | submitted |
|---|---|---|
| AM-2012-10001-B | Hematite, anomaly under review | 2012-06-25 |
| AM-2013-10001-B | Fluorite, anomaly under review | 2013-02-11 |
| AM-2015-10001-B | Scheelite, anomaly under review | 2015-12-12 |
| AM-2016-00744-A | Fluorite with ordered defect array | 2016-03-30 |
| AM-2017-03404-C | Scheelite, metastable spectral state | 2017-09-30 |
| AM-2018-10001-B | Apatite-(CaF), anomaly under review | 2018-11-30 |
| AM-2021-10001-B | Scheelite, anomaly under review | 2021-04-04 |
Specimens which cannot be classified within currently available frameworks.
Class V is reserved for specimens for which no consistent assignment of composition, structure, or behaviour can presently be made. Records are not promoted to Class V automatically. A specimen reaches Class V only after at least three independent analytical passes have failed to converge on a description and a registrar has explicitly accepted the assignment. The registry treats Class V records as open. They are not removed.
representative records
| accession | designation | submitted |
|---|---|---|
| AM-2019-10001-C | Fluorite, anomaly under review | 2019-02-20 |
| AM-2021-00017-A | Sample pending classification | 2021-02-02 |
| AM-2022-10001-C | Magnetite, anomaly under review | 2022-11-13 |
notes on review
A specimen carrying a Class III assignment or higher does not, on that basis, constitute a claim of any specific phenomenon. The classification reflects only that the registry's analytical pipeline has been unable to reconcile the observation with published behaviour for the stated species. Independent verification is encouraged. Where possible, raw analytical data is available on request via the channel listed in methodology.