Scientists recently confirmed that a meteorite that suddenly fell in Africa’s Sahara Desert last year is about 4.6 billion years old and came from a protoplanet that formed before Earth, making it the oldest meteoroid known to man. This is a diagram of the meteorite.
A team of French and Japanese scientists recently confirmed that a meteorite that fell suddenly last year in Africa’s Sahara Desert is about 4.6 billion years old and came from a protoplanet that predates the Earth, making it the oldest meteoroid known to man, and its composition is highly unusual.
By analyzing the magnesium and aluminum isotopes in this “achondrite” meteorite, researchers have determined that the meteorite formed about 4.566 billion years ago, compared to the current estimate of the Earth’s astronomical age of 4.543 billion years, according to a comprehensive media report. It provides an unprecedented and valuable opportunity to study the formation of planets in the early solar system.
The ancient meteorite named EC002. (Steve Jurvetson/flickr)
Researchers believe the meteorite, named Erg Chech002 (EC002), came from the crust of an early planet that was once liquid molten rock that cooled and solidified over 100,000 years to form the large meteorite that looks like this today, entering space and eventually falling to Earth after a collision.
Named after its remote landing site, the Erg Chech desert in Algeria, EC002 weighs nearly 32 kilograms in total.
The Chech Desert in Algeria is a vast expanse of sand that includes complex linear and star-shaped sand dunes. (Maureen/Wikipedia)
It is worth noting that meteorites are usually derived from basaltic crust, while this meteorite is composed mainly of volcanic rocks, rich in sodium, iron and magnesium. In addition, this meteorite contains 58 percent silica, making it even rarer than other meteorites previously found on Earth, as this mineral is commonly found in the planet’s volcanic regions.
The team describes the appearance of EC002 as “relatively coarse grains, mainly tan and beige,” with yellow and green spots.
EC002 becomes the oldest magnetic meteorite ever found, shedding light on the formation of the original crust that covered the oldest protoplanet.
The researchers note that no asteroid has been found with the same spectral signature as EC002, suggesting that the protoplanet from which the meteorite originated became part of a larger body or was “simply destroyed” and disappeared.
The results were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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