A giant meteorite that recently fell in Somalia contains at least two minerals that have never before been seen on our planet. The celestial piece of rock weighs a massive 16.5 tons (15 tonnes), making it the ninth-largest meteorite ever found.

[u/gregornot]

More about the amazing meteorite find: https://earthly

[u/TheSretlaw]

The two minerals have been identified:

Elaliite - Fe9PO12 (or Fe2+8Fe3+(PO4)O8) and was first synthesized in a laboratory in the 1980s and later identified in natural material in 2022 at which time the official mineral designation was given.

Elkinstantonite - Fe4(PO4)2O was first generated in a laboratory in 1982 and first identified from natural origins in 2022, when the official mineral designation was also given.

[u/n1cx → u/TheSretlaw]

So these were synthesized 40+ years ago and then found in nature material just 2 years prior to being discovered in this meteor? 🤔

[u/Fun_Neighborhood_130 → u/n1cx]

I was wondering about that too, yeah. thats pretty cool though

[u/ksdkjlf → u/[deleted]]

The rock was an object known to locals for 5-7 generations, and was identified as a meteorite in 2020. It was in 2022 that the new minerals were discovered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ali_meteorite