Canadian researchers have discovered two minerals inside a meteorite that have never been seen on Earth before.
The 15-tonne El Ali meteorite was discovered near the eponymous town in Somalia in 2020.
A single 70-gram slice was sent to researchers at the University of Alberta, who were blown away by the “phenomenal” find it yielded.
“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,” Professor Chris Herd of the university’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences said in a statement.
“That’s what makes this exciting: in this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science.”
Scientists also believe a third could be discovered in the small sample.
The two newly discovered minerals have been named elaliite and elkinstantonite – the first from El Ali, and the second from Arizona State University’s Professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who Herd said was a leading researcher in planet formation.
University of Alberta analysts found the new minerals very quickly, Herd said.
“That was phenomenal. Most of the time it takes a lot more work than that,” he said.
Researchers are continuing to examine the minerals to determine what they can reveal about the conditions in the meteorite when it formed.
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“That’s my expertise — how you tease out the geologic processes and the geologic history of the asteroid this rock was once part of,” Herd said.
“I never thought I’d be involved in describing brand new minerals just by virtue of working on a meteorite.”
It looks like the mouth of hell opening up. In some sense, it is
Herd also said any new mineral discoveries could possibly yield exciting new uses down the line.
“Whenever there’s a new material that’s known, material scientists are interested too because of the potential uses in a wide range of things in society,” he said.
The whereabouts of the rest of the meteorite are uncertain, though Herd said it had possibly been moved to China in a search for a potential buyer.
It remains to be seen whether additional samples can be obtained.
