The Erg Chech 002 meteorite was discovered in 2020 in the Erg Chech region of the Sahara Desert, Algeria. Photo/Australian National University
CANBERRA – Meteorite Erg Chech 002 was found in 2020 in the Erg Chech area of Sahara desert , Algeria. Upon investigation, this meteorite is about 4.6 billion years old and is an andesitic achondrite, the oldest rocky meteorite today.
According to research published in Nature Communications, this meteorite contains Aluminum-26 (26Al). These are radioactive isotopes that were present in meteorites when they formed, spread unevenly throughout the solar system.
It is known that 26Al was the main source of heat that caused the melting of the early planets. Erg Chech 002’s estimated age of 4.6 billion years provides an opportunity to further explore the early distribution of isotopes in the early solar system.
“Meteorite age data is known by developing a common approach for isotope dating with Al-Mg and other extinct isotope chronometers. Taking into account the heterogeneous distribution of the parent radionuclides makes it possible to produce more accurate data on the ages of meteorites, asteroids and planets,” said Evgenii Krestianinov from the Australian National University, quoted by SINDOnews from an independent page, Wednesday (30/8/2023).
The scientists combined these findings with existing data for this meteorite and compared it to other older meteorites that crystallized from melt. Scientists analyzed Erg Chech 002 and determined the age of its lead isotope to be about 4.566 billion years.
The scientists demonstrated that 26Al had an uneven distribution within the early solar nebula, the flattened, rotating disk of gas and dust from which the solar system originated. Scientists believe that these findings add to our understanding of the early formation of the solar system and improve the accuracy of dating very old meteorites.
(wib)
2023-08-30 04:18:36
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