Scientists find two new minerals in 9th largest meteorite El Ali that hit Earth

El Ali, the ninth biggest meteorite to strike the planet, brought two new minerals to our planet that are not found here. Every time a meteorite hits the Earth, scientists have a unique chance to study and understand the cosmos a little bit more.

Scientists have recently discovered two previously unknown minerals in the 9th biggest meteorite to strike the Earth, known as El Ali. This enormous meteorite was discovered in Somalia. It was known to the Somalian natives for years and weighed 15,000 kilos, but it wasn't until 2020, when a mining company's workers surveyed the region and noticed its peculiar composition. They realized it was indeed a meteorite.

Soon after it was determined to be a meteorite, University of Alberta scientists started examining it. In 2022, it was discovered that the meteorite includes the two new minerals "Elaliite" and "Elkinstantonite."


Elaliite, the first mineral, was named after the meteorite itself since it was discovered close to the Somalian town of El Ali, while Chris Herd named the second mineral Elkinstantonite in honor of Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the main investigator of NASA's future Psyche project.



Both minerals were discovered in a single 70-gram sample that was forwarded to the University of Alberta for assessment.

Unexpectedly, there is already a chance that the sample contains a third mineral. In an interview, Chris Herd, a professor at the University of Alberta's Meteorite Collection, said that there's a potential that even more minerals may be discovered if scientists were to collect further samples from the huge meteorite.

FAQs:

1. Which is the largest meteorite ever to hit Earth?
   The biggest meteorite currently on Earth's surface is called Hoba.
2. What is a meteorite?
   Space rocks that hit the Earth's surface are known as meteorites.