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Meteorite Strike Creates New Type of Mineral

Posted by timothy on from the smashing-folks-smashing dept.

Ridgelift writes "Chinese researchers have discovered a new mineral created by a meteorite strike. A new form of chromite was discovered in the shock veins formed by the impact of the Suizhou meteorite. 'The shock of the impact created temperatures of about 2000C and pressures like those at 600 kilometres below the Earth.' Researcher Professor Hugh O'Neill says 'This potentially gives us clues to the orbital velocities of two bodies that come together to produce these shock collisions.' Along with the rare find, the researchers who discovered the new mineral get to name it."

3 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Downunder! by Zapper · · Score: 3, Funny
    "...600 kilometres below the Earth."

    Isn't that in space somewhere?

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    So much to do, so little bandwidth.
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    Try Mozilla
  2. Re:Naming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Along with the rare find, the researchers who discovered the new mineral get to name it."

    So the name is going to be something like Wing Xiua ChingChang Jing Hua Xuchu?!? Just call it Wun Hung Lo for short.

  3. Re:Mineral Names (Chemists Learned From Geologists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    'C#'

    That's 'D-flat'