12 August 2009

Meteorite News- Meteorite Mineral Wadsleyite Produced in Lab 12AUG09

Meteorite mineral made in the lab

By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

Projectile launcher (Lindhurst Laboratory)
The team use large projectile launchers to create shock waves

By slamming materials together, scientists have made a mineral that is found naturally only in meteorites and the deep layers of Earth's mantle.

Their successful "shock" experiment reveals new clues about the formation of our early Solar System.

The team report the production of the mineral wadsleyite in the journal PNAS.

Its creation in the lab shows that objects that collided to form the planets may have been far smaller than previously thought. ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8194292.stm

No comments: