Two minerals never seen before on Earth found inside 17-ton meteorite

The 2.5 ounce slice which contains the two brand new minerals.
The 2.5-ounce slice which contains the two brand-new minerals. (Image credit: University of Alberta Meteorite Collection)

Two minerals that have never been seen before on Earth have been discovered inside a massive meteorite in Somalia. They could hold important clues to how asteroids form.

The two brand new minerals were found inside a single 2.5 ounce (70 gram) slice taken from the 16.5 ton (15 metric tons) El Ali meteorite, which was found in 2020. Scientists named the minerals elaliite after the meteor and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative and principal investigator of NASA's upcoming Psyche mission, which will send a probe to investigate the mineral-rich Psyche asteroid for evidence of how our solar system's planets formed.

"Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what's been found before," Chris Herd, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, said in a statement. "That's what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science." 

Related: Miners just discovered the largest pink diamond in more than 300 years

The researchers classified El Ali as an Iron IAB complex meteorite, a type made of meteoric iron flecked with tiny chunks of silicates. While investigating the meteorite slice, details of the new minerals caught the scientists' attention. By comparing the minerals with versions of them that had been previously synthesized in a lab, they were able to rapidly identify them as newly recorded in nature. 

The researchers plan to investigate the meteorites further in order to understand the conditions under which their parent asteroid 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," Herd said. "I never thought I'd be involved in describing brand new minerals just by virtue of working on a meteorite."

The team is also looking into material science applications of the minerals.

However, future scientific insights from the El Ali meteorite could be in peril. The meteorite has now been moved to China in search of a potential buyer, which could limit researchers' access to the space rock for investigation.

Ben Turner
Staff Writer

Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.

  • Chris Howard
    I'm just wondering how I missed the news about a 16 ton meteorite hitting Somalia in 2020. I know there was a lot of other stuff going on but it seems like that would have still been a big story. Was there a gigantic crater or explosion from something that large hitting the planet?
    Reply
  • Eletruk
    Chris Howard said:
    I'm just wondering how I missed the news about a 16 ton meteorite hitting Somalia in 2020. I know there was a lot of other stuff going on but it seems like that would have still been a big story. Was there a gigantic crater or explosion from something that large hitting the planet?
    According to the Meteoritical Bulletin, it didn't crash to Earth in 2020. "The local herders near El Ali report that they had knowledge of this rock for more than 5-7 generations memorialized through Saar folklore, songs, dances and poems."
    So the part about "crashed to Earth in 2020" is incorrect.
    Meteoritical Bulletin: Entry for El Ali
    Reply
  • Julius 904
    If the minerals were found in Somalia why doesn't it have a Somalian name
    Reply
  • Laura
    I think the article is wrong... at least from this entry, it looks like it may have been around for generations and just recognized as a meteorite in 2020.

    https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=74444
    Reply
  • lls-in-ca
    Is one of the minerals vibranium?
    Reply
  • Oktavian Zamoyski
    Julius 904 said:
    If the minerals were found in Somalia why doesn't it have a Somalian name

    One of them do, elaliite, after El Ali.
    Reply
  • cchan
    What is the chemical composition (formula) of the two minerals?
    Reply
  • Alice Lanes
    Chris Howard said:
    I'm just wondering how I missed the news about a 16 ton meteorite hitting Somalia in 2020. I know there was a lot of other stuff going on but it seems like that would have still been a big story. Was there a gigantic crater or explosion from something that large hitting the planet?


    Found and landing/crashed into are vastly different scenarios.
    A meteorite could still be somewhere undiscovered in Earth's layers, or barely touched land masses. You can also have a meteorite, or other materials from history for the matter, be discovered, but not as well looked over for decades, or longer. That's the main reason why advancements in technology have a teetering effect for pros and cons. The main pros are scientific finds/ability to identify and analyze composites, estimated dates, any potential living matter, other elements to add onto our list, and much more. Finding something that's this rare is huge. There's zero chance we have found, let alone deeply studied every possible meteorite on earth, and the older they have crashed onto our planet the less likely it is for us to have discovered it to fully research.

    The article isn't inaccurate. This is the year they found the object being discussed.
    Reply
  • HattinGokbori87
    The meteor was never investigate in Somalia because no qualified person is left in the country. Somalia is one of the little known causality of George Bush's "war on terror", which so far killed thousands and thousands times more "brown" civilians then armed people. It is another case of "we want democracy but we don't support the government of your choice and we will bomb you until you realize" policy of USA (remember the time when the USA said they will accept the result of Palestinean election no matter who'll win, only to immediately refuse to do so and signalled Israel to impose blockade when the party they favoured lost the election?).
    Kenya invaded Somalia on USA's behalf using the excuse of an attack that was launched against it's US embassy, Somalia's government refused any involvement, publicly criticised the attack, not to mention the fact that USA was already killing Somalians in flock using Kenya as a base. Then US backed militaries entered the country, ousted the government, installed one of it's own, the predominantly Christian soldiers shown inhuman brutality to the Somali people and Muslim radicalism raised who no longer respect democratic process, watch every foreign involvement as as enemy collaboration (even Turkish involevement) and want to gain power by force. The fight is ongoing and this year Somalia will probably face a massive famine.
    Reply
  • kdm98
    HattinGokbori87 said:
    The meteor was never investigate in Somalia because no qualified person is left in the country. Somalia is one of the little known causality of George Bush's "war on terror", which so far killed thousands and thousands times more "brown" civilians then armed people. It is another case of "we want democracy but we don't support the government of your choice and we will bomb you until you realize" policy of USA (remember the time when the USA said they will accept the result of Palestinean election no matter who'll win, only to immediately refuse to do so and signalled Israel to impose blockade when the party they favoured lost the election?).
    Kenya invaded Somalia on USA's behalf using the excuse of an attack that was launched against it's US embassy, Somalia's government refused any involvement, publicly criticised the attack, not to mention the fact that USA was already killing Somalians in flock using Kenya as a base. Then US backed militaries entered the country, ousted the government, installed one of it's own, the predominantly Christian soldiers shown inhuman brutality to the Somali people and Muslim radicalism raised who no longer respect democratic process, watch every foreign involvement as as enemy collaboration (even Turkish involevement) and want to gain power by force. The fight is ongoing and this year Somalia will probably face a massive famine.
    Somalia was the hotbed of piracy during the time period you describe, reaching a peak in 2008. Attacked and hijacked thousands of innocent ships. No one attempted to control this. After the civil war in the 1980s, the clans in Somali were the unfortunate recipients of muslim controlling groups. Al Shabab has been a continual destabilizing force in Somali. You need to check your facts. The USA worked to establish a democratic government with no success because of the destabilizing forces native to Somalia. Finally, that meteor hit Somalia decades ago.
    Reply