Large Chondrite Meteorite

9"/ 23cm

Weight
2.942Kg

Acrylic Base/Stand Included

Description

About 86 per cent of meteorite falls on our planet are of ordinary Chondrites origin, however these Chondrites are very rare as the commonest meteorite falls are iron meteorites [these record about 300 tons of fall to earth from 60 different origins], where as the Chondrites record about 50 tons of falls to earth, so much more rare than iron meteorites.

Condition report

extremely fine Meteorite, solid state, not crumbly , no fragile cracks or Fischers that will incur future de-stabilising, smooth melt patina, enhanced by the desert varnish or desert weathering patina accumulated over a long period of time, which gives these meteorites their signature.

Through the process of falling to earth the temperatures of the meteorite can reach up to a thousands of degrees, causing internal changes in the metals and minerals, this metamorphism is the way many of the meteorites are identified.

Location & Classification

Open site the Sahara Desert. Collected thence Traded through Berber Nomadic sources between S. E. Moroccan and W. Algerian border area. This is a NWA [North West Africa] classification number. Some of the best places on our planet to search for meteorites are open sites void of human habitations such as deserts and Polar Regions, where weathering or melting take place over eons exposing the few meteorite falls for discovery and identification by professional scientists and enthusiasts.

Each fall is given a classification and geographical identification reference.

Brief Meteorite History

Most meteorites that are recovered on Earth are chondrites: 86.2% of witnessed falls are chondrites, as are the overwhelming majority of meteorites that are found. There are currently over 27,000 chondrites in the world's collections. The largest individual stone ever recovered, weighing 1770 kg, was part of the Jilin meteorite shower of 1976. Chondrite falls range from single stones to extraordinary showers consisting of thousands of individual stones, as occurred in the Holbrook fall of 1912, where an estimated 14,000 stones rained down on northern Arizona.

An estimated 75,000 meteorites strike the earths outer atmospheres each year, the majority of this burn up so never fall to earth. An interesting analogy that was related to us by an experienced meteorite dealer was that a meteorite the size of a football on entering the upper atmosphere and hurtling at great speeds up to hundreds of kilometers an hour will reduce to maybe a grape sized object by the time it strikes.