Two minerals unlike any other on Earth were found inside a meteorite that fell in Somalia
Two minerals unlike any other on Earth were found inside a meteorite that fell in Somalia 1670
Scientists have discovered two minerals never before seen on Earth inside a huge meteorite in Somalia. They could hold important clues about how asteroids form.
The two new minerals were found inside a single 70-g piece taken from the “El Ali” meteorite, which collided with Earth in 2020, and weighed 16.5 tons (15 metric tons).
Scientists named the mineral elaliite after the name of the El Ali meteorite, and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative and principal investigator of NASA's upcoming mission, which will send a probe to the asteroid Psyche. (Psyche), which is rich in minerals for clues to how the planets of our solar system formed.

“When you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rocks, were different from what was found before,” Chris Hurd, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, said in a statement. And that's what makes it so exciting: in this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals, which are new to science."
Scientists classified "Al-Ali" as a complex meteorite from IAB, a type made of meteorite iron speckled with small pieces of silicate.
During the investigation of the meteorite fragment, details of new minerals caught scientists' attention. By comparing the minerals with copies of them previously made in the lab, they were able to quickly identify them as newly found in nature.
The team plans to further investigate the meteorites in order to understand the conditions under which the original asteroid was formed.
Two minerals unlike any other on Earth were found inside a meteorite that fell in Somalia 1-93
The team is also looking at materials science applications for metals. However, future scientific insights from the "Ali" meteorite may be in jeopardy.
It is noteworthy that the meteorite was transferred to China in search of a potential buyer, which may limit scientists' access to the space rock for investigation.




Source: websites