Morocco Emerges as Global Hub for Meteorite Discovery

Since 1999, the number of meteorites discovered in Morocco has exploded, exceeding a thousand, reports Wired. Since then, it has been a rush for the Saharan gold.
Three factors are behind this rapid development. "First, the climate and geography. Given the difference in total area, a meteorite has as much chance of landing in the Scottish Highlands as in the Sahara, but in the former, it will be much more difficult to find (heather, rocks) and will be buried much faster (rain, mud, snow). Most (but not all) meteorites reach Earth with a dark fusion crust on the outside. In the Sahara, these rocks detach from the sand," the publication explains.

The second factor: Morocco already had a network of Western fossil, mineral and archaeological collectors and dealers. Many Moroccans, especially members of nomadic groups, were very skilled at searching for rocks and objects in the desert. "When I walked with my herd, I looked at the ground," a nomad told a Middle East Eye journalist, confiding that the stone trade has lifted many nomadic families out of poverty.

The third factor is Morocco’s legal and geopolitical situation. "We are, thank God, a peaceful country," says Hasnaa Chennaoui Aoudjehane, professor at the University of Hassan II in Casablanca and former member of the Meteoritical Society, the group responsible for officially naming recognized meteorites. This is something unique in the region. She adds: "Here, you can (relatively) walk safely in the Saharan sands in search of stones. Moreover, there was no specific regulation concerning the country’s meteorites. If you found a meteorite in Morocco, you could probably do whatever you wanted with it."