A small meteorite weighing only 15 tons (15,000 kg) was found and discovered by a group of researchers in Somalia. This is the ninth largest meteorite ever found in the world Planet Earth🇧🇷 However, the most interesting part of the discovery isn’t the meteorite’s size. The interesting part is the fact that two new minerals, never before seen on Earth, were discovered in the meteorite. The minerals have been given the beautiful names of elaliite and elkinstantonite.
While analyzing a small slice, 70 grams of mega StoneGeologist Chris Hurd of the University of Alberta has noticed some unusual minerals, he reports Watchman🇧🇷 So he asked Andrew Lowcock, head of the Electron MicroProbe Laboratory, to analyze minerals, thus discovering new extraterrestrial minerals.
“The first day he did some analysis,” he said, “You have at least two new minerals in there.” That was unusual. Herd in a Advertising🇧🇷 Flock is part of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and curator of the Meteorite Collection.
Minerals have already been synthesized by scientists. So, by comparing data from synthetic minerals, Locock was able to quickly identify these two extraterrestrial minerals.
“Anytime you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the rock chemistry, were different than what was found before,” Hurd says. “That’s what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite, you have two officially described minerals that are new to Earth. Sciences🇧🇷
Currently, there are two confirmed minerals, but a possible third mineral present in the meteorite is still being analyzed. Herd also believes that if they receive more meteorites, there will be a chance of finding more minerals. They only contacted the already mentioned tiny 70 gram chip.
“This is my experience—how you can unravel the geological processes and geological history of the asteroid of which this rock was once a part. I never thought I would be involved in describing new minerals just by working on a meteorite,” Hurd says.
The results are described by the researchers in University of Alberta Space Exploration Symposiumthat occurred in November. Now, they hope to obtain more slices of the 15-ton meteorite to better study the candidate.
“Whenever a new material is known, materials scientists are also interested because of the potential uses in a wide variety of things in society,” Hurd explains.
The first mineral, elaliite, is named after the nearby town where the meteorite was found, El Ali, a town in the Hiiraan region of Somalia, Africa🇧🇷 The second mineral, Elkinstantonite, is named after the first mineral, elaliite, named after the neighboring city in which the meteorite was found, El Ali, located in the Hiiraan region of Somalia, Africa. The second mineral, Elkinstantonite, is named after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, vice president of ASU Interplanetary Initiative, professor in Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and principal investigator on NASA’s upcoming Psyche mission.
“Linde has done a lot of work on how planetary cores form, how nickel-iron cores form, and our closest isotope is iron meteorites. So, it made sense to name a mineral after her and acknowledge her contributions to science,” Hurd explains of the honor.
