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A piece of meteorite found in Algeria could be part of an ancient planet that never fully formed.
According to an analysis of the rock, its composition and age suggest that not only is it older than planet Earth, but that it could also have formed volcanically.
This is important because it means that it could have been part of the crust of an object called a “protoplanet”.
The meteorite – called Erg Chech 002 – is a glimpse of the early stages of the planet’s formation.
It was found in May 2020 and the several pieces of rock discovered weighed in total around 32 kilograms (70 lbs).
The rock’s makeup was shown to have come from a body that had an internal fusion system – one of the intermediate stages in the formation of a planet.
Erg Chech 002, which bears the nickname EC 002, was studied by a team of scientists, led by geochemist Jean-Alix Barrat from the University of Western Brittany in France
The team’s analysis revealed that the rock is really, really old. In fact, radioactive decay of rock elements suggests they crystallized around 4.565 billion years ago.
“This meteorite is the oldest igneous rock analyzed to date and highlights the formation of the primordial crusts that covered the oldest protoplanets,” the newspaper read.
The study added: “The crusts of the oldest protoplanets are virtually unknown due to the paucity of samples.
“Here we describe the oldest known lava that crystallized about 4,565 Ma ago and formed by the partial fusion of a chondritic parent body.
“The 26Al-26Mg systematic suggests that the time elapsed between melting and crystallization was significant, on the order of several 105 years, probably due to the viscosity of the magma.
“Although the earliest protoplanetary crusts were often not basaltic, their remains go undetected in the asteroid belt because their parent bodies served as building blocks for larger rock bodies or were almost completely destroyed. “
EC 002 gives scientists a chance to expand our understanding of the emergence of the solar system.
And as we get closer to learning more about the origins of our own planet, scientists have also spotted a planet that could provide them with the opportunity to study the atmosphere of an Earth-like alien world.
It is believed that super-Earth – which is called Gliese 486b – may hold the key to finding alien life.
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