Canyon Diablo (meteorite) explained

Canyon Diablo
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
Lat Long:	35.05°N -113°W
Observed Fall:	No
Fall Date:	49000 years ago^[1]
Found Date:	1891
Tkw:	30 tonnes
Strewn Field:	Yes
Image2 Caption:	Etched slice showing a Widmanstätten pattern

The Canyon Diablo meteorite refers to the many fragments of the asteroid that created Meteor Crater (also called Barringer Crater),^[2] Arizona, United States. 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.

History

The impactor fell about 50,000 years ago.^[3] Initially known and used by pre-historic Native Americans, Canyon Diablo meteorites have been collected and studied by the scientific community since the 19th century. Meteor Crater, from the late 19th to the early 20th century, was the center of a long dispute over the origin of craters that showed little evidence of volcanism. That debate was largely settled by the early 1930s, thanks to work by Daniel M. Barringer, F.R. Moulton, and Harvey Harlow Nininger.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

In 1953, Clair Cameron Patterson measured ratios of the lead isotopes in samples of the meteorite. Through U-Pb radiometric dating, a refined estimate of the age of the Earth was obtained: 4.550 billion years (± 70 million years).^[11]

Composition and classification

This meteorite is an iron octahedrite (coarse octahedrite).Minerals reported from the meteorite include:

• Cohenite – iron carbide
• Chromite – iron magnesium chromium oxide
• Daubréelite – 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.

Fragments

The biggest fragment ever found is the Holsinger Meteorite, weighing, now on display in the Meteor Crater Visitor Center on the rim of the crater. Other famous fragments:

• , Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. The largest fragment outside the United States.^[12]
• , Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.
• , Archenhold Observatory, Berlin, Germany.^[13]
• , Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.^[14]
• 226,8 kilograms (500 lb), MINES ParisTech Mineralogy Museum, Paris School of Mines, France.
• , Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 194 kilograms (427 lb), Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin.
• 179 kilograms (395 lb), Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California.
• , Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.^{[15] [16]}
• , "Clark Iron," Meteorite Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles.^[17]
• 145 kilograms (320 lb), Geology Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
• , Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.^[18]
• , Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California. Fragment loaned by the Geology Department of Pomona College.
• , California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
• 82 kilograms (181 lb), Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.
• , Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey.
• 46 kilograms (101 lb), Branner Library, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
• 28 kilograms (57 lb), Peoria Riverfront Museum, Dome Planetarium, Peoria, Illinois.
• , Basket Meteorite, Meteor Crater Museum, Arizona.^{[19] [20]}
• 19 kilograms (42 lb), Wagner Free Institute of Science, Philadelphia.

See also

• Glossary of meteoritics
• δ ³⁴S
• Reference materials for stable isotope analysis

External links

• Mindat.org
• NASA research note

Notes and References

1. Web site: Spaceguard Foundation UK. https://web.archive.org/web/20061117061101/http://www.spaceguarduk.com/cd/images/crt-ear.html. dead. November 17, 2006.
2. Web site: Barringer Crater . Oxford Reference . Oxford . November 16, 2021 . November 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211117064737/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095448625 . live .
3. Roddy . D. J. . E. M. Shoemaker . 1995 . Meteor Crater (Barringer Meteorite Crater), Arizona: summary of impact conditions . Meteoritics . 30 . 5 . 567. 1995Metic..30Q.567R .
4. Barringer, D.M. (1906). "Coon Mountain and its Crater." Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 57:861–886. PDF
5. Book: Moulton, F. R.. Report on the Meteor Crater – I. August 24, 1929. Barringer Crater Company. Philadelphia.
6. Book: Moulton, F. R.. Report on the Meteor Crater – II. November 20, 1929. Barringer Crater Company. Philadelphia.
7. Crowson. Henry L.. 1971. A method for determining the residual meteoritical mass in the Barringer Meteor Crater. Pure and Applied Geophysics. 85. 1. 38–68. 10.1007/bf00875398. 1971PApGe..85...38C. 140725009.
8. Artemieva N.. Natalia Artemieva. Pierazzo E. The Canyon Diablo impact event: Projectile motion through the atmosphere . . 44 . 1 . 2010 . 25–42 . 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2009.tb00715.x . free .
9. Book: Nininger, Harvey Harlow. Arizona's Meteorite Crater. American Meteorite Laboratory. 1956. 978-0910096027. Sedona, Arizona.
10. Book: Levy . David . Shoemaker by Levy: The man who made an impact . 2002 . Princeton University Press . Princeton . 9780691113258 . 69, 73–75, 81–83.
11. 10.1016/0016-7037(56)90036-9 . Patterson, C. . Age of Meteorites and the Earth . Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta . 10 . 230–237 . 1956. 4 . 1956GeCoA..10..230P .
12. Web site: Canyon Diablo Meteorite; MET16 on eHive. eHive. 2024-05-17. 2021-02-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20210222195736/https://ehive.com/collections/3003/objects/63/canyon-diablo-meteorite. live.
13. Web site: Archenhold Observatory homepage . 2024-02-22 . 2024-02-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240222174959/https://www.planetarium.berlin/en/exhibitions/celestial-museum-astw . live .
14. Web site: Meteorite moves to Flag. Larry . Henricks . June 7, 2009. Arizona Daily Sun. May 17, 2024. April 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190406144227/https://azdailysun.com/news/meteorite-moves-to-flag/article_bbc02e8e-e540-5855-85b9-910b842d0ba0.html. live.
15. Web site: Adirondack Sky Center Meteoroids.
16. Web site: When Worlds Collide: Collaboration and Coincidence in a Mystery from the Skies. December 3, 2019. October 15, 2021. October 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211020100309/https://magazine.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2019/12/03/when-worlds-collide-collaboration-and-coincidence-in-a-mystery-from-the-skies/. live.
17. Web site: UCLA's new Meteorite Museum rocks. https://web.archive.org/web/20130608104537/http://today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/meteor-museum-246085.aspx. dead. June 8, 2013.
18. Web site: CrunchGear » Archive » Meteorite chunk about 300 pounds, 5 billion years old. February 13, 2008. June 29, 2021. February 13, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080213212904/http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/02/10/meteorite-chunk-about-300-pounds-5-billion-years-old/. bot: unknown.
19. Web site: Rummager's galactic find turns out to be stolen meteorite. 2010-10-04. 2014-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20140427202117/http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/41069052.html. live.
20. Web site: Long-lost meteorite comes home to Arizona.