Nauji mineralai, aptikti didžiuliame meteorite, gali atskleisti asteroidų susidarymo įkalčius.

2020 m. Somalyje rastame 33 000 svarų (15 000 kg) meteorite tyrėjų komanda atrado mažiausiai du naujus mineralus, kurių niekada nebuvo Žemėje. Šis milžiniškas meteoritas yra devintas pagal dydį kada nors rastas.

„Kai randi naują mineralą, tai reiškia, kad tikrosios geologinės sąlygos, uolienų chemija buvo kitokios nei buvo rasta anksčiau“, – sako Chrisas Hurdas, Žemės ir atmosferos mokslų katedros profesorius ir Albertos meteorito kuratorius. kolekcija. „Štai kas tai daro įdomų: šiame meteorite yra du oficialiai aprašyti mineralai, kurie yra nauji mokslui.

Viena 70 gramų meteorito gabalas buvo išsiųstas klasifikuoti į Albertos universitetą, kur buvo aptikti du mineralai. Atrodo, kad jau galimas trečias tiriamas mineralas. Hurdas pažymi, kad jei mokslininkai gaus daugiau masyvaus meteorito mėginių, yra tikimybė, kad jie ras daugiau mineralų.

Du naujai atrasti mineralai buvo pavadinti elaliitu ir elkinstantonitu. Pirmasis vardas elaliitas kilęs iš paties meteorito, kuris oficialiai vadinamas „AukščiausiasMeteoritas, nes buvo rastas netoli Al-Ali miesto Somalio Hirano regione. Flockas pavadino elkenstantonitą antruoju mineralu po Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Arizonos valstijos universiteto Planetų iniciatyvos viceprezidento, ASU Žemės ir kosmoso tyrimų koledžo profesoriaus ir vyriausiojo tyrėjos.[{” attribute=””>NASA’s upcoming Psyche mission.

A slice of the El Ali meteorite contains two minerals never before seen on Earth. Credit: University of Alberta

“Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form, how these iron-nickel cores form, and the closest analogue we have are iron meteorites. So it made sense to name a mineral after her and recognize her contributions to science,” Herd explains.

In collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Herd classified the El Ali meteorite as an “Iron, IAB complex” meteorite, one of over 350 in that particular category.

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 Heamanite-(Ce).

“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.”

Locock’s rapid identification was possible because the two minerals had been synthetically created before, so he was able to match the composition of the newly discovered natural minerals with their human-made counterparts.

Scientists are still examining the minerals in detail to determine what they can tell us about the conditions in the meteorite when it formed.

“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.”

Herd also notes that 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.”

While the future of the meteorite remains uncertain, Herd says the researchers have received news that it appears to have been moved to China in search of a potential buyer. It remains to be seen whether additional samples will be available for scientific purposes.

Herd described the findings at the Space Exploration Symposium on November 21 at the University of Alberta’s ETLC Solarium.