AFP FRANCOIS GUILLOT
A number of scientists have concluded that a meteorite that fell in southern Algeria about a century ago is the oldest of volcanic origin, as it arose from a protoplanet that appeared in the first million years of the solar system.
“It is likely that the meteorite fell in southern Algeria at least a century ago due to the coincidence of orbits, after a long journey that began since its crystallization about four billion and 565 million years ago,” explained the geochemist from Brest University, Jean-Alex Barra.
Barra participated in a study published recently in the Annals of the American Academy of Sciences on the object that was found in May 2020 by “meteor hunters”. It was called “Irg Shish 002”, which is the name of the area in which it was found.
“There are officially 43 meteor fragments, the largest of which is the size of a fist,” Parra said.
The meteorite, which has a brown surface almost and green inside when cut, is a witness in more than one way to the formation of protoplanets, which are like planetary embryos, and preceded the emergence of planets in our solar system.
Erg Shish 002 is rare in more than one way, as it is one of 4 thousand characterized by its “distinct material”, which is more detailed than that of other meteorites.
Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the only one with this formation among the 65,000 meteorites, yet it is from “rocks that were very common at the beginning of the history of the solar system,” according to Para.
According to the calculations of the study participants, Marc Chaucidon of the Institute of Earth Physics in Paris, and a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research at the University of “Lorraine” Johan Villeneuve, “the meteorite may be in the first million years of the solar system.”
Source: “AFP”
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