Sputnik- A team of Russian geologists from Ural Federal University recently returned from an expedition in the Lut desert in the east of Iran. The team found 13 kilograms of meteorite-like material. Sputnik Persian spoke with Viktor Grokhovsky a member of the Committee on Meteorites at the Academy of Sciences.



��We planned to�send an expedition to�the Iranian desert Lut, intending to�find a concentration of�extraterrestrial material, meteorites.� Grokhovsky said.A team of�4 people, all employees of�the laboratory Extra Terra Consortium made a trial expedition to�Iran.

According to�the scientist, the expedition was successful. �The team managed to�collect a sufficient number of extraterrestrial materials, with�the support of�their Iranian colleagues from�the University of�Kerman.�

Experts believe that about�80% of�the samples which have been brought back from�the desert actually have extraterrestrial origins. Russian scientists left part of�the found samples in�Iran for�their colleagues from�Kerman University.
Talking about�the findings of�the team, Grokhosvky told Sputnik Persian that, �During the field work, about�13 kilograms of�the samples, which is considered to�be meteorite, were found. Half of�the found fragments have remained with�our Iranian colleagues; the other half has arrived at�our test lab. For now the samples have been measured and entered into�the catalogue.�


He further said that it turned out�that many fragments were remains of�a meteor shower. About 70 individual pieces were collected with�10-12 of�these fragments belonging to�the same type of�meteorite.

According to�him, examination of�the samples will start soon and the process will be time consuming. The professor will be helped by�students from�the university who are studying cosmic meteorology. The next step for�the team will be to�investigate how old the meteorite fragments actually are.
�In order to�determine the age of�the found fragments, the scientist should consider when a fragment was formed in�space, when it split from�its parent body and how much time has it spent on�Earth,� Grokhovsky said. According to�the scientist, meteoritic matter is the same age as�our solar system, about�4.5 billion years old.


Grokhosvky also expressed hope that Iranian students will also participate in�this sample study together with�their Russian counterparts.


The scientist noted that the funding for�this expedition was completely provided by�the scientific laboratory Extra Terra Consortium, which is part of�Ural Federal University.
�Hence, we will put forward a task in�which we will determine for�how long the meteorite fragments have been on�Earth. Based on�the isotopes it will be possible to�talk about�cosmogonist age, that is, how long the outer body of�the meteorite was in�the form of�an asteroid. Ahead lays great and difficult work,� Grokhovsky concluded.


The expedition was being organized since�November last year. The scientists pointed out�that the geographical and climatic conditions of�Lut desert contribute to�the preservation of�a unique meteorite material.

Previously, the researchers from�Russian city of�Yekaterinburg conducted long journeys in�search of�similar meteorites. A group of�scientists spend some time in�Antarctica last year, where they were able to�find 103 samples of�the mysterious extraterrestrial rocks.