Canyon Diablo (meteorite)
| Canyon Diablo | |
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| Canyon Diablo iron meteorite fragment (IAB) 2,641 grams. Note colorful natural desert patina. | |
| Type | Iron |
| Group | IAB-MG |
| Structural classification | Coarse Octahedrite |
| Composition | 7.1% Ni; 0.46% Co; 0.26% P; 1% C; 1% S; 80ppm Ga; 320ppm Ge; 1,9ppm Ir |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Coconino County, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 35°03′N 111°02′W / 35.05°N 111.033°WCoordinates: 35°03′N 111°02′W / 35.05°N 111.033°W[1] |
| Observed fall | No |
| Fall date | 49000 years ago[2] |
| Found date | 1891 |
| TKW | 30 tonnes |
| Canyon Diablo endcut | |
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The Canyon Diablo meteorite comprises many fragments of the asteroid that impacted at Barringer Crater (Meteor Crater), Arizona, USA. Meteorites have been found around the crater rim, and are named for nearby Canyon Diablo, which lies about three to four miles west of the crater.
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[edit] History
The asteroid fell about 50,000 years ago.[3] The meteorites have been known and collected since the mid-19th century and were known and used by pre-historic Native Americans. The Barringer Crater, from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, was the center of a long dispute over the origin of craters that showed little evidence of volcanism. That debate was settled in the 1950s thanks to Eugene Shoemaker's study of the crater.
In 1953, Clair Cameron Patterson used samples of the meteorite to measure the age of the Earth at 4.550 billion years (± 70 million years).
[edit] Composition and classification
This meteorite is an iron octahedrite. Minerals reported from the meteorite include:
- Cohenite - iron carbide
- Chromite - iron magnesium chromium oxide
- Daubreelite - iron(II) chromium sulfide
- Diamond and lonsdaleite - carbon
- Graphite - carbon
- Haxonite - iron nickel carbide
- Kamacite iron nickel alloy - the most common component.
- base metal sulfides
- Schreibersite - iron nickel phosphide
- Taenite iron nickel alloy
- Troilite a variety of the iron sulfide mineral pyrrhotite. The troilite in this sample is used as the standard reference for sulfur isotope ratios.
- Moissanite - a variety of silicon carbide, the second hardest natural mineral.
Samples may contain troilite-graphite nodules with metal veins and small diamonds.
[edit] Fragments
There are fragments in the collections of museums around the world including the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The biggest fragment ever found is the Holsinger Meteorite, weighing 639 kg, now on display in the Meteor Crater Visitor Center on the rim of the crater. Other famous fragments:
- 360 kg, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Paris
- 242.6 kg, Verkamp's Store, Arizona[4]
- 136 kg, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.[5]
- 122 kg, Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California.
- 100 kg, Steinhart Museum, San Francisco.
- Basket Meteorite (22 kg), Meteor Crater Museum, Arizona.[6][7]
- 485 kg, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. The largest fragment outside the United States.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Canyon Diablo
- ^ Spaceguard Foundation UK
- ^ Roddy, D. J.; and E. M. Shoemaker (1995). "Meteor Crater (Barringer Meteorite Crater), Arizona: summary of impact conditions". Meteoritics 30 (5): 567.
- ^ Bill Dellinges, Tracking Down the Mystery Meteorite
- ^ Canyon Diablo meteorite at The Franklin Institute
- ^ Rummager's galactic find turns out to be stolen meteorite
- ^ Long-lost meteorite comes home to Arizona
- ^ Canyon Diablo Meteorite; MET16, Canterbury Museum collection on eHive
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canyon Diablo (meteorite) |
