{"product_id":"meteorite-canyon-diablo-91g-arizona-usa-mecd49","title":"Canyon Diablo meteorite 9.1g - Arizona, USA - MECD49","description":"\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eType: Iron \/ Octahedrite IAB - MG\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLocation: Arizona, USA\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWeight: 9.1g\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDimensions: 2.6 x 1.7 x 0.7 cm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYear of discovery: 1891\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKnown total weight: 30 tons\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSurface treatment: none – Raw\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDETAILED DESCRIPTION\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eCanyon Diablo Meteorite – Creator of the Barringer Crater\nThe Canyon Diablo meteorite impacted Earth approximately 50,000 years ago and formed the Barringer Crater, also known as Meteor Crater, with a diameter of about 1.6 km and a depth of 170 meters. This crater is located in Arizona, USA, and is one of the best-preserved meteor impact craters on Earth. The meteorite is named after the nearby Canyon Diablo, about 5 km west of the crater.\nThe meteorite was discovered in 1891 and has attracted scientific interest ever since due to its composition and the number of fragments found. Its pieces contain rare minerals, including diamonds formed under extreme pressure during the impact.\nClassification and Composition\nCanyon Diablo is an iron meteorite of the IAB-MG type, mainly composed of kamacite (an iron-nickel alloy, ~90%). It also contains 1–4% taenite, another iron-nickel alloy, and schreibersite and troilite crystals. Cohenite, a hard iron carbide, is also often present.\nSamples exposed to intense impact show signs of partial melting, recrystallization, Neumann bands, and other deformations. One of the most significant effects is the transformation of graphite into diamond and lonsdaleite, which appear as visible dark material when cut. Diamond blades deflect when encountering these zones.\nFragments\nUpon impact, the Canyon Diablo meteorite shattered into thousands of fragments. The largest known piece is the Holsinger meteorite, weighing 639 kg, now exhibited at the Meteor Crater museum. Fragments over 10 kg are rare, and those over 100 kg are extremely scarce. The estimated total weight of found fragments is over 30 tons. On many meteorite pieces, especially near the crater rim, the Widmanstätten pattern was destroyed by the explosion during the impact.\nHistory of Extraction\nDaniel M. Barringer, a mining engineer and entrepreneur, proposed in 1903 that the crater was created by a large iron meteorite and obtained a mining permit for 640 acres around the crater. He estimated the meteorite's weight at 100 million tons and envisioned extracting the buried metal.\nAt the time, about 30 tons of oxidized meteorite fragments lay scattered in the area. This led Barringer to believe that the main body of the impactor was still buried underneath. He spent 27 years searching and excavated up to 419 meters deep, but found no significant deposit.\nDiscovery in 1929\nIn 1929, astronomer F. R. Moulton, working for the Barringer Crater Company, concluded that the impactor weighed only 300,000 tons and that the heat of the impact was sufficient to instantly vaporize it. Barringer died ten days after Moulton's second report was published.\n1963 Research\nScientists compared the crater to those produced by nuclear tests and estimated that 1.7 megatons of energy were needed to create it. This would correspond to an object weighing 63,000 tons traveling at 14.5 km\/s.\nIt is estimated that 30 tons of fragments have been collected. Fine material around the crater contains an estimated total of 8,000 tons of iron, leaving about 55,000 tons to speculate on. Most vaporized, while some remains as samples near the crater. Spherical iron droplets have been found northeast of the crater. Until recently, meteorite hunters with metal detectors continued to find new specimens.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PeltramMinerals","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58027846926661,"sku":"MECD49","price":64.63,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/1659\/2965\/files\/43910_photoroom-003-20250430-180706.jpg?v=1779377956","url":"https:\/\/moldavite.it\/en\/products\/meteorite-canyon-diablo-91g-arizona-usa-mecd49","provider":"Moldavite.it","version":"1.0","type":"link"}