Stony Iron Meteorite Fragment
Sahara Desert, Morocco
Specimen Type: Stony Iron Meteorite Fragment
Estimated Age: 10,000 and 50,000 years old
Exact location of these meteorites is difficult to determine since they are gathered by nomads and sold in bulk to traders. Shifting sands unearthed many meteorites that were buried on impact. Meteorite falls occured between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago. These stone chondrite meteorites have limited rust due to the dry dessert conditions.
Iron Meteorite Fragment
Field of the Heavens, Argentina
Specimen Type: Iron Meteorite Fragment
Estimated Age: 4,000 – 6,000 years old
Coarse octahedrite from Campo del Cielo (Field of the Heavens), Argentina. First discovered in 1571 by Spanish explorers in Chaco Argentina, this meteorite is thought to have fallen 4,000-6,000 years ago. Pieces range in size from grains of sand to 35 tons. This fragment consists of 92.2% iron, 6.68% nickel, 1.12% cobalt and a small percentage of phosphorus, germanium and gallium.
Iron Nickel Meteorite Fragment
Primorye, Siberia, Russia
Specimen Type: Iron Nickel Meteorite
Estimated Age: Fell on February 12, 1947
This coarse octahedrite was found in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Primorye, Siberia, Russia, about 270 miles northeast of Vladivostok. This meteorite fell to earth mid-morning on Feb 12, 1947 in eastern Siberia at 10:38 a.m. local time. Observers saw a fireball brighter than the sun with a twenty-mile smoke trail and heard a deafening roar and it was visible from as far as 200 miles away. The meteor broke up several miles above the earth, creating a rain of shrapnel with a speed of 8.7 miles per second or 31,000 miles per hour. Fortunately the rain fell in an uninhabited area. The total mass of the Sikhote-Alin has been estimated at somewhat under 1000 tons; this was spread over the area of the strewn field. The largest fragment is a 1,745 Kg specimen now on display in Moscow. The largest fragments made small craters and pits. One of these measured 85 feet across and 20 feet deep. It is composed of 93% iron, 5.9% nickel, .42% cobalt and 68% other (phosphorus, sulfur, germanium and iridium).