4.5 billion-year-old meteorite yields new mineral

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A 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite from northwest Africa has yielded one of the earliest minerals of the solar system.

Officially called krotite, the mineral had never been found in nature before, though it is a human-made constituent of some high-temperature concrete, according to study researcher Anthony Kampf, curator of Mineral Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

"This is one that simply was not known in nature until we found it here," Kampf told LiveScience. "That's pretty dramatic."

The tiny mineral sample — just 0.2 inches (4 millimeters) long — came from a grain in the meteorite dubbed "cracked egg" for its appearance. In addition to krotite, the cracked egg grain contains at least eight other minerals, one of which is new to science, the researchers say.

Studying this mineral and other components of the ancient meteorite is essential for understanding the origins of the solar system, the scientists say.