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At least two minerals found in a massive meteorite that fell in Somalia in 2020 are unprecedented on Earth. According to a press release, scientists at the University of Alberta have identified the minerals.
Only a small percentage of the tons of space material that enter the Earth’s atmosphere each day make it to the ground. Instead, because they ablate due to friction with the atmosphere, they usually burn up instantly from the outside in.
Because of this, very few huge meteorites make it to the earth’s surface; the one that fell close to the Somali town of El Ali is unquestionably an exception. With a weight of 16.5 tons (15 tonnes), the cosmic fragment is the ninth-largest meteorite ever discovered.
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Two minerals that are not present on Earth were discovered by experts when a little fragment of the meteorite, weighing roughly 2.5 ounces (70 grams), was sent to the University of Alberta for categorization.
The closest parallel we have is iron meteorites, Herd continued. “Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form, how these iron-nickel cores form.” “Therefore, it was logical to honor her scientific contributions by naming a mineral after her
The presence of a third new mineral that is being considered can only be verified after additional analysis is finished. This is interesting. “There’s a chance that even more might be found if researchers were to obtain more samples from the massive meteorite,” Herd said.
However, given the El Ali meteorite has supposedly already been relocated to China for sale, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. It’s unclear if a prospective customer would consent to further samples being collected for research.
