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A polished slice of the Finnish meteorite exposed rounded metal grains locked within a thin, web-like matrix unlike typical iron meteorites.<\/p>\n
Examining that structure, Laura Kotomaa at \u00c5bo Akademi University<\/a> documented phosphorus concentrated within the network that surrounds the metal grains.<\/p>\n Those phosphorus-rich regions form one of the meteorite\u2019s dominant mineral components and account for its unusually high phosphorus content.<\/p>\n Understanding how such an extreme composition formed requires looking more closely at the minerals that build the meteorite\u2019s internal structure.<\/p>\n Two minerals dominate<\/p>\n Most of the meteorite consisted of kamasite, an iron-nickel alloy common in iron meteorites, packed into rounded chunks.<\/p>\n Between those chunks sat schreibersite, a phosphorus-rich mineral made of iron<\/a> and nickel, and it held most of the meteorite\u2019s phosphorus in a brittle, net-like matrix.<\/p>\n Cutting and grinding split shiny granules from the schreibersite because the fragile matrix snapped easily.<\/p>\n Such a high share of schreibersite left the rock chemically extreme, and it narrowed the list of possible parent bodies.<\/p>\n Phosphorus breaks the mold<\/p>\n At the whole-rock level, the team\u2019s analysis<\/a> of the 2017 Finland find put phosphorus near 4.3% by weight, far above most irons.<\/p>\n Only seven other phosphorus-rich irons are known, and trace elements, tiny amounts of other elements in a rock, highlighted L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara\u2019s odd fingerprint.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara\u2019s unique structure and trace element composition make it a particularly intriguing discovery,\u201d said Kotomaa.<\/p>\n Because classification relies on shared chemistry, scientists labeled L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara ungrouped, not matching any established meteorite chemical family.<\/p>\n A core split<\/p>\n In the parent asteroid, molten metal<\/a> likely separated as it cooled, leaving one layer far richer in phosphorus than another.<\/p>\n Geologists call that split liquid immiscibility, when one molten mix splits into two liquids, each holding different elements.<\/p>\n Phosphorus favored the denser melt and later crystallized as schreibersite, while nickel stayed moderate and sulfur remained unusually low.<\/p>\n That kind of chemical sorting suggests a core that cooled in stages, rather than freezing into a single, uniform metal.<\/p>\n Scars from impact<\/p>\n Cracks and crushed zones in the phosphorus<\/a>-rich matrix showed that the meteorite did not cool gently inside a quiet core.<\/p>\n A collision could have reheated parts of the metal, then rapid cooling locked small grains in place before they grew larger.<\/p>\n Tiny patches of troilite, an iron sulfide mineral common in meteorites, sat at boundaries where shock can focus heat.<\/p>\n Because those scars come from later violence, they complicate efforts to read the meteorite as a simple snapshot of formation.<\/p>\n How rare types form<\/p>\n From the cores of small asteroids came iron meteorites<\/a>, and they record how metal melted and separated early on.<\/p>\n A pallasite, a stony-iron meteorite with metal and olivine, forms near a core-mantle boundary in its parent body.<\/p>\n \u201cIron meteorites and pallasites are among the rarest types found on Earth, and they provide crucial insights into the composition and evolution of early planetary bodies,\u201d said Kotomaa.<\/p>\n L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara fit that rare category, yet its phosphorus load pushed it into a part of space history scientists barely see.<\/p>\n Lieksa keeps producing<\/p>\n Searchers pulled L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara from eastern Finland near a place called Lieksa, about 400 yards from where the Lieksa pallasite was found.<\/p>\n Weeks earlier, the ungrouped Lieksa pallasite turned up in the same area, and it carried metal mixed with olivine.<\/p>\n Since then, many more metal-rich fragments have turned up, raising the chance that one body<\/a> broke up overhead.<\/p>\n Without a confirmed link between the pieces, scientists must treat the cluster as a lead, not a solved case.<\/p>\n Why phosphorus stands out<\/p>\n On Earth, phosphorus usually sits inside phosphate, a phosphorus-oxygen form common in rocks, which dissolves slowly and limits chemistry.<\/p>\n In a lab experiment<\/a>, schreibersite reacted with water-based liquids and produced reduced phosphorus that dissolves more easily.<\/p>\n With schreibersite making up a big share of L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara, the meteorite offered a test case for that kind of reaction.<\/p>\n Still, no one can assume this rock changed Earth life, because a rare find in Finland does not prove common delivery.<\/p>\n Next tests and searches<\/p>\n Linking L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara to the other metal fragments will require more than proximity, because similar-looking irons can come from different bodies.<\/p>\n Researchers will compare isotopes, atoms of an element with different weights, to see whether the Finnish pieces share one signature.<\/p>\n Careful sampling also matters, since weathering on the surface can smear chemical signals and hide the original metal pattern.<\/p>\n If the pieces truly match, scientists may be looking at a rare asteroid lineage, and L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara becomes its clearest witness.<\/p>\n What happens next<\/p>\n L\u00f6p\u00f6nvaara showed how one small rock can hold layered-core chemistry, mineral fingerprints, and impact scars in a single slice.<\/p>\n Future matches to the Lieksa fragments could pin down the parent body, but the search depends on more finds and samples.<\/p>\n The study is published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A small iron meteorite found in Finland has become the most phosphorus-rich iron meteorite ever identified. Its extreme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-523869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}