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Two new minerals, never seen before in nature, have been recently discovered inside a meteorite. <\/p>\n\n
The space rock was identified near the El Ali district of Somalia in 2020, but locals have known of it for much longer. They call the stone \u2018Nightfall\u2019 in folk songs and dances that go back seven generations. It is huge, weighing more than 15 tonnes, making it the ninth-largest meteorite ever discovered, and is predominantly made of iron and nickel. <\/p>\n\n
Shortly after its discovery, a 70g slice was sent to Chris Herd at the University of Alberta for analysis. Herd soon noticed something unusual in the data, which was identified as a pair of new minerals. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhenever you find a new mineral, it means that the geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different to what\u2019s been found before,\u201d says Herd. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes this exciting.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
As iron meteorites are believed to originate in the cores of infant planets destroyed before becoming fully-fledged worlds, these minerals offer a critical window into our Solar System\u2019s growth. If you know the conditions necessary to form these minerals, then it\u2019s possible to tease out the geological history and conditions in which the asteroid formed. <\/p>\n\n
Fortunately, the team had a head start in this analysis, as the minerals have previously been created synthetically in a laboratory. This also helped their rapid identification, as they could be matched to their human-made counterparts. <\/p>\n\n
Now they have been found in nature, the minerals have been named elaliite, after the meteorite and elkinstantonite, after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a prominent researcher in the field of planetary cores. <\/p>\n\n
There are signs of a potential third new mineral in the rock, but it is still under analysis. Herd hopes more new minerals could be threaded throughout the meteorite, but finding them may prove difficult. The meteorite appears to have been moved to find a buyer and it\u2019s uncertain if any more samples will be available for scientific study \u2013 whether for planetary science or other research. <\/p>\n\n