Osterplana 65 fell to Earth 470 million years ago during the Ordovician and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
470 million years ago, somewhere in our Solar system there was a fierce battle between two asteroids. We know about it, because at that time the Earth has fallen meteor rain. But in that meteor shower, which are all the same, crept into the mystery: a strange ball, not like the others. And this odd ball maybe we have something to talk about how rocks from space can change ecosystems and the prosperity of individual species.
The name of this eccentric meteorite of Osterplana 65. This is a stony meteorite, which was found in a limestone quarry in Sweden. Osterplana 65 fell to Earth 470 million years ago during the Ordovician and sank to the bottom of the ocean. There he was swallowed by a layer of limestone, created the sea life of that time.
The Ordovician period is notable for several things: the Prime of life like the Cambrian period, which preceded it, and the characteristic stream of meteors. There is ample evidence of meteor events of the Ordovician in the form of meteorites, and they all share similar chemical composition and structure. For a long time it was believed that they all came from a single parent body.
The collision that spawned this meteor shower had two components, two bodies, and Osterplana 65 suggests that one of these bodies differed from the other. In addition, Ost 65 is a yet unknown type of meteorite.
The research on this topic was published in Nature on 14 June 2016. As the study authors write, “although it remains a possibility to stay a single random meteorite, it is necessary to consider that Ost 65 is 1% of meteorites found on the seabed of the mid-Ordovician. Ost 65 may represent one of the dominant types of meteorites arriving on Earth 470 million years ago.”
To detect the type of meteorite that fell to Earth 470 million years ago and is no longer falling in our time, it is important for a number of reasons. The asteroid that produced it, no longer exists, and other sources like meteorites Ost 65 today, too, is no more.
Fossils of a type of meteorite that is no more, can help us unravel the history of the Solar system. The asteroid belt itself is a constant evolution of conflict and destruction. Most likely, several types of asteroids that were present in the young Solar system, no longer exists, and Ost 65 — a direct confirmation of this.
Ost 65 shows us that in the past diversity in the population of meteorites was greater than today. Ost 65 takes us back for just 470 million years old. What happened before that? What was the variety of meteorites?
The earth is largely a conglomeration of space rocks, and we know that in our collections of meteorites there is no remains of the first building blocks of the Earth. Ost 65 helps us to prove that the nature of space rocks have changed over time and that species, that were the Earth in space has to be found.
Ost 65 was found among 100 other meteorites, which are mostly of the same type. He was found on the dump of the quarry, as told Bergen Schmitz, co-author of the study.
Search other fossil meteorites can help to answer another question related to the opening Ost 65. As different types of space rocks falling to Earth at different times, helped in the evolution of life on Earth? If Ost 65 were included in the dominant type of meteorites falling on Earth 470 million years ago what effect it had? With the emergence and development of life involves a lot of variables. The flow of minerals from space at the right time could be one of such variables is necessary for the prosperity of life.
