El Ali meteorite
The El Ali meteorite (also known as Nightfall) is a 15.2 ton (16,800 kg) meteorite that was known to the local population in Somalia for generations, but first scientifically identified in 2020.
Discovery and identification
El Ali was found at in a limestone valley 15 kilometres north of El Ali at GPS location 4°17.281’N, 44°53.893’E on September 2020.[1][2] Local pastoralists were aware of the rock for between five and seven generations, and it featured in songs, folklore, dances, and poems.[1] The meteorite was brought to the attention of the international community by Kureym Mining and Rocks Company's staff who were prospecting opals in the area. They identified the rock and started moving it to Mogadishu before the Somalia government intervened.[1]
It is an IAB meteorite.[1]
Mineral identification
In 2022, scientists from the University of Alberta identified elaliite and elkinstantonite in a 70 gram piece the meteorite.[3] The minerals were identified by Andrew Locock who is head of the university's electron microprobe laboratory.[4]
Synthetic versions of both minerals were both produced in a French laboratory in the 1980s but could not be categorised as a mineral until they were found in nature.[4]
Shipping to China
The future of the meteorite is uncertain as it has been shipped to China presumably for sale.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d "Meteoritical Bulletin: Entry for El Ali". www.lpi.usra.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ^ "U of A scientists help identify two new minerals found in 'curious' meteorite". edmontonjournal. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ^ "Somalia meteorite: Joy as scientists find two new minerals". BBC News. 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- ^ a b "In meteorite, Alberta researchers discover 2 minerals never before seen on Earth | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- ^ MacPherson, Adrianna (2022-11-28). "New minerals discovered in massive meteorite may reveal clues to asteroid formation" (Press release). Alberta, Canada: University of Alberta. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
External links
- Entry for El Ali in the Meteoritical Bulletin
- J.T. Wasson and G. W Kalleymeyn, the IAB iron-meteorite complex: A group, five subgroups, numerous grouplets, closely related, mainly formed by crystal segregation in rapidly cooling melts, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Volume 66, Issue 13, 1 July 2002, Pages 2445-2473