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1.7" Canyon Diablo Iron Meteorite (20.1 g) - Arizona
This is an amazing 1.7" wide (20.1 gram) fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite.
The Canyon Diablo Meteorite
About 50,000 years ago, the giant Canyon Diablo meteor hit the dry Arizona desert at an incredible speed, almost 48,280 kilometers per hour. The resulting blast created an impact crater about 3/4 of a mile wide and about 600 feet deep. Most of the meteor was vaporized, but some fragments survived: the largest found is about 639 kilograms. The meteor itself likely weighed up to 63,000 tons, about 30 tons of which have been recovered.
The Canyon Diablo Meteorite impact crater just west of Meteor City, AZ is 4,000 feet wide.
Assays of the recovered meteorite fragments yielded about 7% nickel and 1/3 oz per ton platinum. In some specimens, tiny black nanodiamonds called "carbonados" were discovered inside graphite and troilite nodules. These carbonados were probably formed by the shock wave of the meteor's collision with earth.
About 50,000 years ago, the giant Canyon Diablo meteor hit the dry Arizona desert at an incredible speed, almost 48,280 kilometers per hour. The resulting blast created an impact crater about 3/4 of a mile wide and about 600 feet deep. Most of the meteor was vaporized, but some fragments survived: the largest found is about 639 kilograms. The meteor itself likely weighed up to 63,000 tons, about 30 tons of which have been recovered.
The Canyon Diablo Meteorite impact crater just west of Meteor City, AZ is 4,000 feet wide.
Assays of the recovered meteorite fragments yielded about 7% nickel and 1/3 oz per ton platinum. In some specimens, tiny black nanodiamonds called "carbonados" were discovered inside graphite and troilite nodules. These carbonados were probably formed by the shock wave of the meteor's collision with earth.
About Iron Meteorites
Iron type meteorites are composed primarily of iron and nickel, and are the remnants of differential cores torn apart at the beginning of the solar system. These metallic meteorites are often the easiest to identify after millions of years post-impact because they are quite different from terrestrial material, especially when it comes to their mass-to-surface area ratio. They are exceptionally heavy for their size since iron is a high-density metal: this is also why the Earth's core is nickel-iron. As planets form, the densest metals form gravitational centers, bringing more and more material into their gravitational pull. In the solar system's rocky planets, these dense materials are most often nickel and iron.
Most iron meteorites have distinctive, geometric patterns called Widmanstätten patterns, which become visible when the meteorite is cut and acid etched. These patterns are criss-crossing bands of the iron-nickel alloys kamacite and taenite that slowly crystalized as the core of the meteorites' parent bodies slowly cooled. Such large alloy crystallizations for mover millions of years and do not occur naturally on Earth, further proving that iron meteorites come from extraterrestrial bodies.
Iron type meteorites are composed primarily of iron and nickel, and are the remnants of differential cores torn apart at the beginning of the solar system. These metallic meteorites are often the easiest to identify after millions of years post-impact because they are quite different from terrestrial material, especially when it comes to their mass-to-surface area ratio. They are exceptionally heavy for their size since iron is a high-density metal: this is also why the Earth's core is nickel-iron. As planets form, the densest metals form gravitational centers, bringing more and more material into their gravitational pull. In the solar system's rocky planets, these dense materials are most often nickel and iron.
Most iron meteorites have distinctive, geometric patterns called Widmanstätten patterns, which become visible when the meteorite is cut and acid etched. These patterns are criss-crossing bands of the iron-nickel alloys kamacite and taenite that slowly crystalized as the core of the meteorites' parent bodies slowly cooled. Such large alloy crystallizations for mover millions of years and do not occur naturally on Earth, further proving that iron meteorites come from extraterrestrial bodies.
TYPE
Iron (IAB-MG)
AGE
LOCATION
Barringer Crater, Coconino County, Arizona, USA
SIZE
1.7 x .75 x .45", Weight: 20.1 grams
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#303511
