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A selection from
Mr. Clemens' Meteorite Collection
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This meteorite is called Canyon
Diablo is a 464 gram (1.015 pound) iron coarse octahedrite found in Coconino County,
Arizona. It is estimated that the iron meteor hit Earth about 20,000
years ago at a speed of 45,000 miles per hour. Canyon Diablo is the native
name given to the crater 20,000 years prior to the current name: Meteor Crater.
It was long speculated (until 1950!) to be caused by a
volcano or even alien bombs. The truth about the crater is credited
to the research of D.M. Barringer, H.H. Nininger, and Eugene M. Shoemaker. |
click on the photos to get a larger
view
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Three kinds
or meteorites are known.
1. Iron,
2. Stone, and
3. Stony-iron.
Meteorites are what hits the ground, a meteor is still in the sky. |
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This is the meteorite
Odessa. It is a coarse octahedrite of 461 grams (1.008 pounds) found in Odessa,
Texas. During the late Pleistocene, a large bolide entered the
Earth's atmosphere with several hundred tons of iron meteorites. The
impact left a funnel shaped crater 60 feet wide and 10 feet deep.
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This is the meteorite
Murchison. It is a stone: Carbonaceous chondrite of a whole 7.4
grams (25oz).
It fell on September 9, 1969 at 11am in Murchison,
Australia.
What is most significant about this meteorite is what is within: 74 amino
acids. These are important building blocks for life! Humans
have 19 of them! Scientists believe meteorites such as this could have
been the foundation in the formation of living things on planet Earth.
The other 55 amino acids have no other source here on Earth! |
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Sikhote-Alin: 8,064
grams (17.64
pounds)!!!
The most exquisite specimen of my meteorite collection! This is an iron
coarsest octahedrite that fell in the Sikhote-Alin mountains of Russia on
February 2, 1947 at 10:30am. The largest recorded meteorite fall in
modern history occurred in broad daylight. A fireball traveling at
31,000 mph broke up and showered the frozen ground with 44,000 pounds of
iron shrapnel-like meteorites. The divots in this exquisite meteorite are
called regmaglypts, or mineral cavities that exploded upon entering
Earth's atmosphere. Seen also is a melting pattern in the iron.
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Gibeon: 4,979 grams (10.89 pounds).
An iron coarse octahedrite discovered in Namibia, Africa in 1836.
Captain J.E. Alexander heard about great masses of meteorites up to two
feet square near the Great Fish River. Within large cattle ranches,
nearly 1,100 pounds of meteorites were recovered, one of them weighing 510
pounds! |
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Allende:
121.2grams(4.23oz)
a stone carbonaceous chondrite fell in Chihuahua, Mexico on
February 2, 1969 at 1:05pm. After witnesses heard a bolide
(explosion), two tons of meteorites were collected, one weighing 242
pounds! It is believed taht Allende was formed during a solar nebula
4.56 billion years ago because it contains remnants of interstellar grains
formed when a star exploded prior to teh formation of the sun. The
isotope Mg26 speaks loudly among astronomers that a supernova event
triggered the formation of our solar system. Note the burned crust
on this stone meteorite.
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Gao:
62.2 grams (2.177oz)
a stone carbonaceous chondrite fell in Burkina Faso, Africa on
March 3, 1960 at 4pm. Relatively few specimens have been recovered
from this meteorite fall that emitted searing heat from the friction of
reentry into Earth's Atmosphere. This caused the meteorite to explode into
fragments. The fragments continued their descent and were heated and
fragmented again. The fusion crust on the specimen evidence of
intense heating and melting of the thin outer layer of the meteorite. |
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Brenham:
28grams
(.98oz)
Mr. & Mrs. Kimberly, farmers in Brenham, Kansas were ready to
sell off the land as they had difficulty preparing the field crops with
these strange stones in the soil. The Kimberly's daughter broke one
open and discovered the beautiful pallasite (stony iron) minerals inside
the stones. Mrs. Kimberly finally lured scientists to the site in
1885 and recovered thousands of pallasite meteorites in the fields
surrounding the farm. |
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Canyon Diablo: 2,688 grams (5.89 pounds)
Same story as the Canyon Diablo at the top of this page, this meteorite is
most associated with Meteorite Crater,
Even more
great historical information can be found about this fall by clicking on the link below:
Canyon Diablo
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