In a meteorite that landed in Somalia, scientists have found two minerals that don’t occur naturally on Earth. Now they suspect that the meteorite may also contain a third yet unknown mineral.
A group of researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada has discovered two new minerals in a meteorite found in Somalia. It’s unclear when the 15,000-ton meteorite struck, but it’s the ninth-largest meteorite ever found.
Canadian researchers had access to a 70-gram disc to classify the space rock. Their conclusion was that it was a so-called IAB-type iron meteorite, one of more than 350 meteorites in that particular category.
While working, Professor Chris Herd saw something that caught his eye. He enlisted the help of the university’s electron probe microanalysis laboratory, where measuring equipment bombarded the disk with a beam of electrons and analyzed the X-rays emitted by the material.
Already on the first day of the analysis, two minerals were discovered that do not occur naturally on earth.
– Phenomenal. It usually takes a lot more work to be able to establish that a new mineral exists, says Chris Herd i a press release.
The identification happened so quickly because the two minerals were created synthetically earlier, which made it possible to match the composition of the two newly discovered natural minerals with their man-made counterparts.
An unknown third mineral
Scientists are now continuing to examine the mineral to increase knowledge of the geological conditions that prevailed when the meteorite once formed.
– When you find a new mineral, it means that the geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, were different from what was discovered before, says Chris Herd.
One mineral was named elaliite, after the El Ali meteorite, which itself was named after a town of the same name near the site of its discovery. The other mineral has been named elkinstantonite, after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who is the lead scientist on NASA’s upcoming project expedition to the asteroid Psyche.
The researchers also suspect that a previously unknown third mineral may be hiding in the 70-gram disc.
