New minerals discovered in massive meteorite may reveal clues to asteroid formation. At least two new minerals that have never before been seen on Earth have been discovered by a team of researchers in a 33,000-pound (15,000-kg) meteorite found in Somalia in 2020. This giant meteorite is the nint
A slice of the El Ali meteorite, now housed in the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Collection, contains two minerals never before seen on Earth. Credit: University of AlbertaAt least two new minerals that have never before been seen on Earth have been discovered by a team of researchers in a 33,000-pound meteorite found in Somalia in 2020. This giant meteorite is the ninth largest ever found.
The two newly discovered minerals have been named elaliite and elkinstantonite. The first name, elaliite, comes from the meteorite itself, which is officially called the “” meteorite because it was found near the town of El Ali, in the Hiiraan region of Somalia.
As Herd was analyzing the meteorite to classify it, he saw something that caught his attention. He brought in the expertise of Andrew Locock, head of the University of Alberta’s Electron Microprobe Laboratory, who has been involved in other new mineral descriptions including“The very first day he did some analyses, he said, ‘You’ve got at least two new minerals in there,’” says Herd. “That was phenomenal. Most of the time it takes a lot more work than that to say there’s a new mineral.
“That’s my expertise — how you tease out the geologic processes and the geologic history of the asteroid this rock was once part of,” says Herd. “I never thought I’d be involved in describing brand new minerals just by virtue of working on a meteorite.”
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