Saeed Ahmed
Across the globe, the rare substance has been found only six times. On the Australian continent, it is the first such discovery.
In Western Australia an extremely rare mineral called reidite has been discovered, which is formed when a meteor crashes into the earth’s crust with immense pressure. This force makes a common mineral, the zircon, transform into that very rare substance, which was first found in Australia and only six times in the whole Earth: the reidite was previously detected in the USA, Germany, China and India
On this occasion, it was found in the depths of the old Woodleigh crater, located in the vicinity of Shark Bay, reports the local press . According to researcher Aaron Cavosie, it is a microscopic mineral. He added that all known samples of reidite on our planet would probably be the size of a grain of rice.
The crater is buried under sedimentary rocks and its size is still unknown. Researchers are now working to define it and, if it has a diameter greater than 100 km, as is believed, it would be the largest impact crater known in Australia. They also aspire to determine its seniority more accurately, since according to current estimates it goes back 360 million years ago.
