Home Zambia News Scientists Discover Two New Minerals in Somalia Meteorite

Scientists Discover Two New Minerals in Somalia Meteorite

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According to scientists, a massive meteorite that hit Earth has two minerals that have never been found on our planet before.

Locals think the rock is considerably older than Canadian experts who claim it was discovered two years ago in a remote part of Somalia.

They refer to the stone as Nightfall and claim that poems, songs, and dances from five generations ago describe it. Today, it is used to sharpen blades.

The new minerals are officially known as elaliite and elkinstantonite.

When researchers at the University of Alberta examined a 70g chunk from the 15-tonne meteorite, which is thought to be the ninth-largest to strike our planet and is composed primarily of iron and nickel, they were able to identify them.

Elkinstantonite is named after NASA scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, while the names “elaliite” and “elkinstantonite” honor the fact that the meteorite was discovered in the Somalian area of El Ali.

“Lindy has done a great deal of research on how the cores of planets form, how these iron nickel cores form, and the closest comparable we have is iron meteorites,” she said. So it only made logical to honor her scientific accomplishments by naming a mineral after her, according to Prof. Chris Herd, who oversees the University of Alberta’s meteorite collection.

The university’s scientists are currently analyzing a third, unidentified element and are hoping to obtain more of the meteorite in order to continue their analysis and learn more about its potential applications on Earth.

Material scientists are always intrigued by newly discovered materials because of its possible applications in a variety of thin