http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/FullStory.html&cf=tgam/common/FullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&date=20010824&dateOffset=&hub=science&title=Science&cache_key=science¤t_row=1&start_row=1&num_rows=1 --- Unique B.C. meteorite a hot find Fragile space rock is most primitive piece of solar system ever to be recovered on Earth Friday, August 24, 2001 By ROD MICKLEBURGH VANCOUVER -- The numbers are almost beyond comprehension. From a distance of half a billion kilometres, after close to seven million years hurtling through space at a speed of 10 kilometres per second, a large chunk of asteroid rock somehow collided with the Earth's atmosphere and crashed down on a remote lake in northwestern British Columbia. Now, 20 months later, scientists have confirmed that the meteorite is one of a kind: not only the most primitive rock ever recovered from the solar system, but also the first from a thick band of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. "It's very exciting," said geologist Takahiro Hiroi of Brown University, who co-wrote a study of the meteorite's origins published today in the journal Science. "Almost everything about this meteorite is unique. It's completely out of my experience. And we are only just starting to study it. A lot more interesting things are certain to be found." Scientists were lucky with the rare meteorite because so many fragments landed on thick snow, cushioning the impact and leaving them in good shape to study. Other fragments shattered on the lake's hard, clear ice or disappeared in the adjoining woods. Prof. Hiroi said they were able to conclude from the metorite's reflective qualities and composition that it almost certainly broke off from what scientists call a D-type, a primitive asteroid located in the far end of a belt between Jupiter and Mars. "What we recovered had not been found before. It contains some of the oldest preserved material in the solar system." The charcoal-like fragments differ from all previous meteorite finds, he said. They are darker, less dense and more fragile. "They are actually closer to ice than rocks. They break very easily." Peter Brown, assistant professor in physics and astronomy at the University of Western Ontario, said pinning down the meteorite's origin is the most exciting finding so far. "To be able to match it with a D-type asteroid is a very sweet result. It's big news. I'm tickled pink to see this kind of information coming out," said Prof. Brown. He said scientists will be studying Tagish Lake, as the meteorite has come to be known, for years because the rocks of D-type asteroids have remained basically unaltered since their formation. "So these samples have more primitive material than anything we've ever seen before. They are probably the sort of thing that went into the making of the outer planets, like Jupiter. "So it's another building block in the overall picture of the origins of our solar system, all part of the grand puzzle." The resort operator who first found large chunks of the Tagish Lake meteorite and called astonished scientists to report the discovery said yesterday he continues to feel awed by developments. "When you find out that you were holding stuff that's older than anything else in the solar system, it's an indescribable feeling," said Jim Brook, who spied the dark chunks of rock while driving his pickup truck over the lake a week after the meteorite landed. "It's pretty amazing when you consider that they came down right there on the lake and at that time of year, when there was some snow around. The whole thing was a real stroke of luck." He has been showered with praise by scientists for appreciating the significance of his find and preserving the rock fragments by storing them in his freezer. Although he peculative price of $1,000 a gram for the treasure. Copyright © 2001 Globe Interactive, a division of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.