Meteorites

Martian Stone Willamette Iron

Thin Section

Tagish Lake, B.C.

Antarctica
 The main points: Meteorites
• Each year Earth sweeps up ~80,000 tons of extraterrestrial
matter, from microscopic dust particles to large rocks
• Some are identifiable pieces of the Moon, Mars, or Vesta; most
are pieces of asteroids
• Meteorites were broken off their parent bodies 10’s to 100’s of
million years ago (recently compared to 4 Billion Years)
• Oldest meteorites (chondrites) contain bits of interstellar dust,
tiny diamonds made in supernova explosions, organic molecules
and amino acids (building blocks of life), tiny spherules left over
from the very early Solar System
• Direct insight into solar system formation
Meteor showers
• Time
exposure
image,
tracking
stellar
motion
• Stars stay
still,
meteorites
make trails
 What are meteorites?
• Chunks of rock or iron-nickel that fall to Earth from space
• Pieces of asteroids, comets, Moon, Mars, interstellar dust
– Can weigh from < 1 ounce to a few tons (!)
• “The Poor Man’s Space Probe”
– From parts of the Solar System astronauts may never explore
• Usually named after the place where they fall
– Examples: Prairie Dog Creek (US), Zagora (Morocco), Campo del
Cielo (Argentina), Mundrabilla (Australia)
What do meteorites look like?

Vesta
Meteorite from
Mars

Allen Hills
(Moon)
 Variety of meteorite “falls”
• Tiny pieces of cosmic dust
– Collected by special airplanes, in clay under the
oceans, or in Antarctic ice
• Find single small chunks of rock
– Sometimes at random, sometimes by following
trajectory of a “fireball” or meteor trail
• A several-ton meteorite breaks up during
descent, falls as separate pieces
– Biggest pieces can make large craters if they hit
land
 Small particles: spherules
• Tiny droplets from space
• Formed by melting and re-solidification after impacts

Spherule from Moon Spherule

Collected by Apollo 11 astronauts from bottom of the Indian Ocean
 Small particles: cosmic dust
• Sometimes from comets, sometimes left over from the
cosmic dust cloud from which the Solar System formed
Single small chunks of rock

Iron-nickel meteorite
A few inches across Allende
Carbonaceous chondrite
 Several-ton boulders

Hoba Meteorite, Namibia

 Worldwide frequency of
meteorites as function of size
Impact Frequency
Size Frequency Destruction Area
Pea 10/ hour
Walnut 1/ hour
Grapefruit 1/ 10 hours
Basketball 1/ month
50 meters 1/ century New York City
1 kilometer 1/ 100,000 years Virginia
2 kilometers 1/ 500,000 years France
10 kilometers 1/ 100 million years World-Wide?
 Primitive vs. processed meteorites

Based on composition, meteorites fall into two basic categories:

• primitive
• about 4.6 billion years old
• accreted in the Solar nebula
• processed
• younger than 4.6 billion years
• matter has differentiated
• fragments of a larger object
which processed the original
Solar nebula material
 Origin of Meteorites

• Primitive meteorites condensed and accreted directly from

the Solar nebula.
• the stony ones formed closer than 3 AU from the Sun
• the Carbon-rich ones formed beyond 3 AU from the Sun, where it
was cold enough for Carbon compounds to condense
• Processed meteorites come from large objects in the inner
Solar System.
• the metallic ones are fragments of the cores of asteroids which were
shattered in collisions
• the rocky ones were chipped off the surfaces of asteroids, Mars, and
the Moon by impacts
 Origin of Meteorites

• Primitive meteorites condensed and accreted directly from

the Solar nebula.
• the stony ones formed closer than 3 AU from the Sun
• the Carbon-rich ones formed beyond 3 AU from the Sun, where it
was cold enough for Carbon compounds to condense
• Processed meteorites come from large objects in the inner
Solar System.
• the metallic ones are fragments of the cores of asteroids which were
shattered in collisions
• the rocky ones were chipped off the surfaces of asteroids, Mars, and
the Moon by impacts
 Meteorites Historical
Meteorites were originally thought by many
cultures to have supernatural powers or that
they were gifts from the gods or heaven.

Winona found in cist

at Elden Pueblo AZ

"Hadschar al Aswad", the sacred

"black stone", in the Kaaba, Mecca Thunderstone of Ensisheim 1492
In his booklet, "On the Origin of the Pallas Iron
and Other Similar to it, and on Some
Associated Natural Phenomena", published in
Chladni
(Father of Meteoritics)
1794, he compiled all available data on
several meteorite finds and falls.

From this, he was forced to conclude that

meteorites were actually responsible for the
phenomena known as fireballs, and, more
importantly, that they must have their origins
in outer space.

His view received immediate resistance and

mockery by the scientific community. In the
late 1790s, rocks from space just didn't fit into
the concept of nature.
Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni
However, nature itself came to Chladni's aid in
the form of two witnessed meteorite falls,
making him the father of a brand-new
discipline - the science of meteoritics.
On December 13, 1795, a stone of Wold Cottage
about 25kg was seen to fall in Wold
Cottage, England, by several
eyewitnesses.

The fall occurred in broad daylight,

out of a clear, blue sky, refuting the
most popular explanations for the
formation of meteorites, such as
lightning or condensation in clouds.

British chemist, Edward Howard, who

found it to contain grains of nickel-
iron metal, similar in composition to
the iron meteorites described in
Chladni's book.

Conservative scientists kept on

denying the obvious facts, among
them some of the most influential The Wold Cottage Monument
members of the respected French
Academy of Sciences.
 Map of the L'Aigle Strewnfield

L'Aigle
On April 26, 1803, a shower of
about 3,000 stones fell in broad
daylight near L'Aigle, France,
witnessed by countless people.
This incident attracted much
public attention, providing a
fertile ground for further
research and the young science
of meteoritics.

The French Minister of the

Interior commissioned the
young physicist Jean-Baptise
Biot, a member of the French
Academy of Sciences, to
investigate the fall, resulting in
a well-written paper that finally
gave meteoritics credibility.
 Meteorite Classification
Meteorite Classes
Chondrites: relatively unaltered,
formed as aggregates of primitive
solar system material, unmelted
asteroids, chondrules usually
present, 86% of falls.

Achondrites: processed by melting,

formed from magma, crust or mantle
of asteroid, no chondrules, 8% of
falls.

Iron meteorites: processed by

melting, asteroidal core, 7% of falls.

Stony-iron meteorites: processed

by melting, core-mantle boundary of
asteroid, 1% of falls.
 Meteorite Classification

All Meteorites

Undifferentiated Differentiated

Chondrites Achondrites Iron Meteorites Stony-Iron Meteorites

 Meteorite Classification

Undifferentiated Meteorites

Chondrites

Carbonaceaous Ordinary Enstatite

R-Chondrites
Chondrites Chondrites Chondrites

CI CM CR CO CV CK H L LL EH EL
 Meteorite Classification

Differentiated Meteorites

Achondrites
Martian Lunar HED’s
Aubrites Ureilites Angrites
Meteorites Meteorites (4 Vesta?)

Shergottites Nakhlites Chassigny ALH 84001 Howardites Eucrites Diogenites

 Meteorite Classification

Differentiated Meteorites

Iron Stony-Iron
Meteorites Meteorites

Octahedrites Hexahedrites Ataxites Pallasites Mesosiderites

Chondrites are more or less
undifferentiated, primordial
Chondrites
matter that has remained
nearly unchanged for the last
4.5 billion years. These stony
meteorites formed nearly
simultaneously with the Sun.

It is thought that small droplets

of olivine and pyroxene
condensed and crystallized
from the hot primordial solar
nebula in form of small
spheres that we nowadays call
chondrules.

Chondrules accreted with

other material that condensed
from the solar nebula forming
a matrix that constitutes
chondrites and chondritic
parent bodies (asteroids).
Chondrules
 Chondrites
In their chemical composition, chondrites resemble the Sun, depleted
of the most volatile elements like hydrogen and helium.

However, the distribution of elements has not been uniform in the

original solar nebula - elemental composition varied as did the
conditions under which the chondritic parent bodies formed.

Different asteroids formed in various regions of the primordial solar

nebula under different conditions.

Those parent bodies were further subjected to different thermal and

chemical processes as well as to impacts with other asteroids
resulting in a variety of chondrites, which have been categorized into
several clans, groups, and subgroups.
 Chondrite Petrologic Types
The chondrites of each clan and group are further subdivided
according to petrologic viewpoints and are classified into
petrologic types.

Each type is designated with a number from 1 to 7 whereas type

3 builds the base line and describes a type of chondrite that has
suffered little or any alteration by neither water nor any thermal
metamorphism.

The petrologic types mirror the degree of chemical equilibrium

within the minerals of a chondrite.

Petrologic types 1 to 3 represent highly unequilibrated

chondrites due to a lack of thermal metamorphism while the types
4 to 7 are increasingly equilibrated due to extended thermal
processes.
 Carbonaceous Chondrites
Carbonaceous chondrites or C chondrites
represent some of the most pristine matter
known, and their chemical compositions match
the chemistry of the Sun more closely than any
other class of chondrites.

Carbonaceous chondrites are primitive and

undifferentiated meteorites that formed in
oxygen-rich regions of the early solar system so
that most of the metal is not found in its free
form but as silicates, oxides, or sulfides.

Most of them contain water or minerals that

have been altered in the presence of water, and
some of them contain larger amounts of carbon
as well as organic compounds. The most
primitive carbonaceous chondrites have never
been heated above 50°C.
Orgueil (CI)
 Ordinary Chondrites

Chondrites of this clan are designated

as "ordinary" just because they are the
most common class of stony meteorites,
representing more than 85% of all
witnessed chondrite falls.

The mineralogies of ordinary chondrites

are primarily composed of olivine,
orthopyroxene, and a certain
percentage of more or less oxidized
nickel-iron. Based on the differing
content of metal and differing
mineralogical compositions the ordinary
chondrites have been subdivided into
three distinct groups that are designated
SOUSLOVO
as H, L, and LL chondrites.
Meteorite type: L4
Specimen weight: 11.91 kilos
Dimensions (mm): 190 x 231 x 158
 Achondrites
The term "achondrite" was orginally used to describe a stony meteorites without chondrules,
and this lack of chondrules was the primary characteristic used to distinguish the two major
stony groups, achondrites and chondrites.

However some chondrites (very primitive or highly equilibrated) lack chondrules.

Achondrites can be thought of as stony meteorites that have been melted.

Achondrites are samples of differentiated planetary bodies, and therefore represent a very
heterogeneous class of meteorites. Most of them are primitive; that is, nearly chondritic in
composition with an age similar to the primordial chondrites.

These so-called primitive achondrites are the residues from partial melting that took place on
small parent bodies having chondritic compositions.
 Achondrites
More evolved achondrites, have
experienced a more extensive igneous
processing including magmatic
processes similar to geological
activities encountered on Earth.
Some of these achondrites are basalts,
plagioclase and pyroxene-rich volcanic
rocks that represent the upper crust of
their parent bodies. Others are olivine-
rich plutonic rocks that formed in
deeper regions of the crust and
experienced prolonged thermal
processing.

Several groups of evolved achondrites can be assigned to specific parent bodies.

The meteorites of the HED group are believed to be samples of 4 Vesta, one of the
largest asteroids in our solar system.
Other basaltic achondrites, such as aubrites and angrites, are also considered to
have an asteroidal origin, although their parent body is unknown.
 NORTON COUNTY
Meteorite type: AUB
Specimen weight: 111.20 g
Dimensions (mm): 65 x 47 x 34
Estimate: $2,400 - $3,000
 Norton County
On display at Institute of Meteoritics at UNM

1 ton (~908,000 grams)

One of the largest stony meteorites
$25/gram = $22.7 million
 Achondrites

A few rare achondrites can be assigned to

larger parent bodies - the true planets and
their moons.

The rare meteorites of the LUN group are First Lunar Meteorite
genuine pieces of our own Moon - a fact ALH 81005
that has been proven by comparisons to
samples of Moon rocks that were returned
to Earth by the Apollo missions during the
late 60's and early 70's.

The equally rare achondrites of the SNC

group are believed to have their origin on
the planet Mars.
 Iron Meteorites
Iron meteorites are characterized by the presence of two nickel-iron alloy
metals: kamacite and taenite.

These, combined with minor amounts of non-metallic phases and sulfide

minerals, form the three basic subdivisions of irons. Depending upon the
percentage of nickel to iron, these subdivisions are classified as:

hexahedrites (4-6% Ni)

octahedrites (6-12% Ni)
ataxites (12+% Ni)

Octahedrites, which are the most common type of iron meteorite, exhibit a
unique structural feature called the Widmanstätten pattern when etched
with a weak acid. This unique crystal pattern is the result of the
combination of the two nickel-iron minerals kamacite and taenite being
present in approximately equal amounts.
Widmanstätten
Ablation Surfaces on Iron Meteorites
 Largest Iron Meteorites
Meteorite Country Found Structural Class Group Weight kg

Hoba Namibia 1920 Ataxite IVB 60,000

Campo del Cielo Argentina 1990 Octahedrite IAB 37,000

Cape York (Ahnighito) Greenland 1894 Octahedrite IIIAB 31,000

Armanty China 1898 Octahedrite IIIE 23,500

Bacubirito Mexico 1863 Octahedrite UNG 22,000

Cape York (Agpalilik) Greenland 1963 Octahedrite IIIAB 20,000

Mbosi Tanzania 1930 Octahedrite UNG 16,000

Campo del Cielo Argentina 1576 Octahedrite IAB 15,000

Willamette USA 1902 Octahedrite IIIAB 14,900

Chupaderos Mexico 1854 Octahedrite IIIAB 14,100

Mundrabilla Australia 1911 Octahedrite IIICD 12,000

Morito Mexico 1600 Octahedrite IIIAB 11,000

 Largest Stony-Iron Meteorites
Meteorite Country Found Class Weight
kg

Huckitta Australia 1937 Pallasite 1,400

Krasnojarsk Russia 1749 Pallasite 700

Brenham USA 1947 Pallasite 450

Largest Stony Meteorites

Meteorite Country Fell Class Group Weight kg

Jilin China 1976 Chondrite H5 1,770

Norton County USA 1948 Achondrite Aubrite 1,073

Long Island USA 1891 Chondrite L6 (broken) 564

Paragould USA 1930 Chondrite LL5 371

Bjurbole Finland 1899 Chondrite L/LL4 (broken) 330

 Stony-Iron Meteorites

Stony-irons consist of almost equal amounts of nickel-iron alloy

and silicate minerals. Although all stony-irons may not be
genetically related or have similar composition, they are
combined into one group and divided into two subgroups for
convenient classification.

The Pallasite group is characterized by olivine crystals

surrounded by a nickel-iron structure which forms a continuous
enclosing network around the silicate portion.

Mesosiderites, on the other hand, consist mainly of plagioclase

and pyroxene silicates in the form of heterogeneous aggregates
intermixed with the metal alloy. No distinct separation between
the metal and silicate phases is readily apparent as it is with the
Pallasites.
 Pallasite

GLORIETA
Meteorite type: PAL-UNGR
Specimen weight: 464.3 g
Dimensions (mm): 219 x 169 x 3
Mesosiderite

ESTHERVILLE
Meteorite type: MES-A3/4
Specimen weight: 59.80 grams
Dimensions (mm): 49 x 74 x 5
 “Fossil” Meteorites
Oldest of these fossils is the meteorite of Osterplana, Sweden, that
was found in 1987 imbedded in some limestone. This limestone,
which dated from Ordovician times, revealed to the scientists that
the imbedded meteorite had fallen 480 million years ago!

The meteorite of Osterplana is even older than the Brunflo meteorite

which previously held the record for the "oldest". Brunflo, which was
also found in Swedish limestone in 1980, has a terrestrial age of 450
million years.

These fossils do not preserve most of the original meteoritic

mineralology, but are replaced by terrestrial mineralization.

The oldest intact meteorite is the Lake Murray iron. A single mass
was found in a gully in Oklahoma in 1933. The meteorite was
imbedded in some Antler Sandstone dating from the Lower
Cretaceous, suggesting that Lake Murray landed in a near-shore,
shallow sea, while these beds were being deposited about 110 million
years ago.
Saharan Find
 Dar al Gani 749
Carbonaceous Chondrite
(95kg)

Largest meteorite ever found in Libya

Strewnfield map of Dar al Gani, Libya

853 meteorites plotted

On January 18, 2000 A brilliant fireball
followed by loud detonations was widely Tagish Lake
observed over the Yukon Territory and Carbonaceous Chondrite
northern British Columbia.  The fireball
was also detected by satellites in Earth
orbit.  Dust clouds from terminal
fragmentation events were widely
observed.

Pieces of a 56-metric-ton meteorite

rained down over a wide area of
Canada. Many pieces landed on the
frozen Tagish Lake, allowing scientists
to recover numerous samples, and
giving the meteorite its name.
 
Mr. Jim Brook recovered several dozen
meteorites totaling ~1 kg on the ice of
Taku Arm, Tagish Lake, on January 25
and 26 .
 Tagish Lake
Between April 20 and May 8, ~500
additional specimens were located
on the ice of Taku Arm and a small,
unnamed lake 1.5 km to the east. 
Only ~200 were retrieved however,
as many had melted down into the
ice making their collection time
consuming; recovery was prioritized
based on meteorite mass and degree
of disaggregation.  The total mass
collected was between 5 and 10 kg.
The strewn field is at least 16 km by
3 km, oriented ~S30°E.
 TAGISH LAKE STREWN FIELD
Tagish Lake
Peekskill NY
(1992)
 Terrestrial Impact Craters

Wolfe Creek, Australia Meteor Crater, AZ

0.875 kilometers (.544 miles) 1.186 kilometers (.737 miles)

300,000 years 49,000 years
 Terrestrial Impact Craters
Chicxulub, Yucatan MX
Manicouagan, Quebec

170 km ~100 kilometers (62 miles)

64.98 million years 212 million years