Characterization of Oman Meteorites

Meteorites are the remnant fragments from the formation of the Solar System. By examining a meteorite, we are looking at the chemical composition of the solar system as it was being born. In 1999, meteorite hunters discovered that the desert in southern and central Oman is a favorable area for the collection of many rare specimens. The gravel plains in the Dhofar and Al Wusta regions of Oman, South of the sandy deserts of the Rub' al Khali, had yielded about 5,000 meteorites as of mid-2009. Included among these are a large number of lunar and Martian meteorites, making Oman a particularly important area both for scientists and collectors. Early expeditions to Oman were mainly done by commercial meteorite dealers, however international teams of Omani and European scientists have also now collected specimens. In recent years Oman has been one of the world centers of meteorite discovery. In 2011, the Sultanate contributed around 14 % of all the world?s meteorite finds excluding Antarctica. Scientists are still building their knowledge of our planet and solar system thanks to Omani meteorite finds. The broad spectrum of Oman meteorites and their exceptional preservation make them key research tools that can enhance our understanding of the beginning of the Solar System. In this research we intend to characterize and classify a collection of Omani meteorites through detailed geochemical, mineralogical and petrological analysis and publish the result in a book as well as research journals.