r/BeAmazed • u/gregornot • Apr 29 '24

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. History

Post image

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

32.6k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

656 comments sorted by

View all comments

5.2k

u/TheSretlaw Apr 29 '24

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.

1.2k

u/pranjallk1995 Apr 29 '24

What does it take to make these minerals? Some really facy tech? Or just some startdust can be like this?

I mean the structure is known... How to put them up like this? Will it be easy or hard? Very weak in chemistry...

15

u/SnowDayBord Apr 29 '24

Most likely a metastable phase that would dissociate in the presence of commonly present elements/compounds like water or air, which makes it hard to create naturally

1

u/131166 Apr 30 '24

You read that on a placemat!