Researchers a Meteorite It is about 2 million years older than Earth. The rock was discovered last year in the middle of the Sahara Desert in Algeria. A team of French and Japanese scientists analyzed its structure. According to the study, the meteorite formed in the early stages of the Solar System.

The team realized that its formation was due to volcanic processes and that it took at least 100,000 years to cool and harden. For this reason, rock is part of a protoplanet that was destroyed before it could achieve stability.

Rare composition

Named Erg Check 002 (or EC002), this meteorite has a very complex and rare composition. Although most volcanic meteorites found on Earth are made of basalt, they are made of onsite. This rock is concentrated in subduction zones, i.e. the tectonic plates collide and are pushed under another.

A. Irving / Reproduction

As it is very old, it stores important information about the formation process of the planet. Despite this, the team found nothing that matched the structure of the meteorite, despite data on the elements that make up EC002 and the information available to the asteroids.

“It simply came to our notice then Magmatic rock It analyzes the oldest to date and sheds light on the formation of the primordial crust, which contains the oldest protoplanets, ”the scientists wrote.

The oldest asteroid ever discovered

Analyzing the aluminum and magnesium isotopes in EC002, researcher Jean-Alix Barrett and colleagues discovered that the two minerals crystallized 4.565 billion years ago. Assuming that the Earth is estimated to be 4.540 billion years old, the meteorite will be successful in terms of age.

This is the first time that geologists have to study such an ancient rock, indicating that new discoveries about this meteorite will be published in the next few years.