The idea that the chemical composition of celestial bodies in the Solar system was unchanging, was a myth. It is found by researchers from Lund University (Sweden), who studied 43 space object that fell to Earth 470 million years ago and found in Russia. Their paper published in the journal Nature.
In 2016 geologist Birger Schmitz found in a Swedish quarry meteorite Österplana called 065. Scientist called heavenly body discovered “extinct” because of its unique chemical composition, which is not met in any other meteorite. In addition, the object fell to Earth in the Ordovician period (485-443 million years ago). This led the geologist to the idea that ancient meteorites have been completely different.
Researchers working in the laboratory of astrogeology in Lund, analyzed sediments on the seabed off the North-Eastern coast of Russia. With acids, the scientists dissolved several tons of sediment to find the grains of chromium oxide that came down in the composition of meteorites. To find out what type of attitude associated with grains of cosmic bodies, the geologists conducted a chemical and isotopic analysis.
It turned out that ancient meteorites really much different from the modern one. According to scientists, this indicates that about 500 million years ago in the Solar system, an event occurred which affected the chemical composition of cosmic objects. However, what it was, remains unknown.