Rare Meteorite Fall in Southern Morocco Sparks Scientific Expedition

The team of Professor Hasnaa Chennaoui-Aoudjehane from the Hassan II University of Casablanca went to the field to collect samples for validation and registration with the international nomenclature committee, the "Meteoritical Society".

"To do this work, you need to have all the necessary field information, which will be followed by scientific work in the laboratory," says the specialist to TelQuel.

Morocco is known for the exceptional quality of its meteorites. Two specimens are of particular interest to the global community.

The Black Beauty, whose texture and format are unique. It is a rock fragment ejected from the planet Mars, estimated to be over 4.4 billion years old. One gram of Black Beauty is worth around $10,000.

The finest specimens, weighing around a hundred grams, are currently in certain museums, including the Natural History Museum in Copenhagen (Denmark).

Another rare stone discovered in Morocco is the Tissint. Unlike the first, this is an observed fall, in the province of Tata on July 18, 2018. The peculiarity of this meteorite, dated to more than 700,000 years according to the analyses carried out by the team of Professor Hasnaa Chennaoui-Aoudjehane, is the presence of fluids during a period prior to its detachment from the red planet.

Estimated at 7 kg, the finest specimens of this meteorite (900 g to 1 kg) are in the Natural History Museum in London and in Vienna.

The black treasure hunt is an activity in the hands of the meteorite hunter community, which can be lucrative, since the highly sought-after comet debris is worth a fortune. The asteroid usually bears a Moroccan name, generally that of the geographical area where it was discovered.