• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Two New Minerals Never Seen Before On Earth Extracted From Huge Meteorite

July 23, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

A space rock found in Somalia has been found to contain at least two minerals not found before in nature and only previously known to have been produced artificially. It’s not quite the asteroid that gave Wakanda its vibranium, but for geologists, it might be even better. Since these discoveries were made using a single 70-gram (2.5-ounce) sample, we may have barely scratched the surface of what the rock has to offer.

The presence of water and oxygen on Earth create more ways in which elements can come together to create minerals. As a result, the number we have found originating on Earth dwarfs those known to have formed in space. Nevertheless, meteorites maintain their capacity to surprise us, and the El Ali meteorite, discovered near the town of El Ali in the Hiiraan region of Somalia, is certainly doing that.

Advertisement

“Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what’s been found before,” said Professor Chris Herd, who presented the findings at the University of Alberta’s Space Exploration Symposium last year.

The meteorite – the ninth largest ever found – is an “Iron, IAB meteorite”, of which more than 350 are known. Consequently, Herd was particularly surprised to see something unfamiliar when examining a slice of it.

Herd asked his colleague Dr Andrew Locock to see what was going on. “The very first day he did some analysis he said, ‘You’ve got at least two new minerals in there,” Herd said. 

Herd called the novel minerals elaliite and elkinstantonite after the meteorite and Professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton, respectively. Besides being vice president of the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University, Elkins-Tanton is principle investigator of NASA’s Psyche mission to explore the large metal-rich asteroid that is set for launch in October 2023.

Advertisement

The fact both elaliite and elkinstantonite had been produced in laboratories meant Locock was able to verify their presence relatively easily. Artificial substances don’t have the same naming process as those found in nature, so Herd’s names have been accepted.

Locock has experience with identifying new minerals, but Herd said his expertise lies in working out the history of an asteroid based on its composition. Finding new minerals scrambles that, and it will take a while both to work out how the meteorite’s parent body formed, and why we haven’t seen these minerals elsewhere.

Humans have been putting meteorite material to use at least since Tutankhamun had a dagger forged from the iron/nickel/cobalt in one. Herd hopes elaliite, elkinstantonite, or other minerals found in the El Ali meteorite will eventually prove of practical value.

Although the Meteoritical Bulletin Database lists the 17-ton El Ali meteorite as having been found in 2020, that is only when the wider world became aware of it. Locals told researchers the stone was known as “Nightfall” in the folklore of the Saar people, indicating its landing had been observed. It had been celebrated in songs, poems, and dances for at least five generations and used for knife sharpening. The meteorite is almost 90 percent iron and nickel and is among the largest ever found.

Advertisement

 An earlier version of this article was published in November 2022. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Dollar marks one-week top amid higher U.S. yields, ECB caution
  2. Tennis-Barty among first three qualifiers for WTA Finals
  3. Back in black: U.S. Supreme Court returns from COVID-19 telework
  4. How Ancient Greek Philosophers And Mythology Saw The End Of The World

Source Link: Two New Minerals Never Seen Before On Earth Extracted From Huge Meteorite

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Why Earth’s Magnetic Pole Reversals Are So Fascinating
  • World First Artificial Solar Eclipse Created, The “Closest Thing” To HIV Vaccine Gets FDA Approval, And Much More This Week
  • “Remarkable” Pattern Discovered Behind Prime Numbers, Math’s Most Unpredictable Objects
  • People Are Only Just Learning What The World’s Most Expensive Cheese Is Made Of
  • The Physics Behind Iron: Why It’s The Most Stable Element
  • What Is The Reason Some People Keep Waking Up At 3am Every Night?
  • Michigan Bear Finally Free After 2 Years With Plastic Lid Stuck Around Its Neck
  • Pangolins, The World’s Most Trafficked Mammal, May Soon Get Federal Protection In The US
  • Sharks Have No Bones, So How Do They Get So Big?
  • 2025 Is Shaping Up To Be A Whirlwind Year For Tornadoes In The US
  • Unexpected Nova Just Appeared In The Night Sky – And You Can See It With The Naked Eye
  • Watch As Maori Octopus Decides Eating A Ray Is A Good Idea
  • There Is Life Hiding In The Earth’s Deep Biosphere, But Not As You Know It
  • Two Sandhill Cranes Have Adopted A Canada Gosling, And It’s Ridiculously Adorable
  • Hybrid Pythons Are Taking Over The Florida Everglades With “Hybrid Vigor”
  • Mysterious, Powerful Radio Pulse Traced Back To NASA Satellite That’s Been Dead Since 1967
  • This Is The Best (And Worst) Sleep Position
  • Artificial Eclipse, Dancing Dinosaurs, And 50 Years Of “JAWS”
  • The Longest-Reigning Monarch In History Is Someone You’ve Never Heard Of
  • World’s First Microfiber Recycling Center Plans To Combat Ocean Pollution At Its Source – Our Homes
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version