Meteorite Weighing 15 Metric Tons Falls in Africa, 2 New Minerals Found
Scientists have identified two new minerals never before seen on Earth in a 15.2 metric ton (33,510 pound) meteorite. The mineral comes from a 70-gram (nearly 2.5 ounce) slice of a meteorite found in Somalia in 2020. This meteorite is also the ninth largest ever found, according to a news release from the University of Alberta, reported by the CNN website, Tuesday (27/12/2022). Chris Herd, curator of the university's meteorite collection, received samples of the space rock so he could classify it. As he examined it, something unusual caught his eye; some parts of the sample couldn't be identified with a microscope. He then sought advice from Andrew Locock, head of the university's Electron Microprobe Laboratory, because Locock had experience describing new minerals. "On the first day he did some analysis, he said, 'You have at least two new minerals in there,'" Herd, a professor in the university's department of earth and atmospheric sciences.