Meteorite fall in Assam was studied
Kharagpur, Jun 24: Earth’s surface is made up of three layers – the crust, mantle, and core. The composition and formation of the mantle is less known. Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur have studied a shocked meteorite (fragments of debris from the outer space to earth’s surface that has gone through high- pressure and high temperature due to an impact). The meteorite belonged to the asteroid belt (it is formed
by accumulation of solid particles during the formation of planets) located between Mars and Jupiter and fell near Kamargaon village in Assam in 2015. They found that the meteorite was mainly composed of a rock-forming mineral called Olivine which is found in dark-coloured igneous rocks. It has a very high crystallisation temperature and is an important mineral found in earth’s mantle. Researchers used a high-resolution electron microscope to image and scan the meteorite. They conducted chemical analysis of the material and confirmed it.
