A team of researchers has discovered two new minerals – elaliite and elkinstantonite – inside a 15-ton meteorite found in Somalia. Or it would be better to say found.

Rediscovery

We are in Al Ali, a city in the Horn of Africa where the meteorite is located in a valley of limestone. It has long been known to locals, so much so that it has been at the center of folklore and hero of stories, songs and dances, but only in 2020 has it been identified by scholars. It is the ninth largest in the world and it can hide mysteries so we start to study it better. Two years later, and we’re in November 2022, here’s the step forward. Beyond dimensions there is more.

Meaning of names

In a tiny 70-gram piece, scientists at the University of Alberta in Canada have discovered two new minerals that have never been seen before in their natural state. first, elite, It takes its name from the meteorite itself, which is called “the Most High”. Like Medina, the latter was baptized as a Kenstantonite. It’s a tribute to Lindy Elkins TantonPrincipal investigator of the impending check self taskwho should lead NASA to study this mysterious asteroid 400 million kilometers from Earth, very rich in minerals.

New but not much

Currently, the International Mineralogical Association, the global organization that presides over the nomenclature and classification of new minerals, has already approved elaliite and elkinstantonite. Two similar compounds have been made by a French laboratory Already in the 1980’s this has accelerated the identification process.