Canyon Diablo (meteorite)

The meteorite Canyon Diablo was found in the vicinity of the famous Barringer Crater in Arizona.

The impact event took place about 50,000 years ago, making the crater has a relatively small geological age. The crater has a diameter of 1,186 meters and is 170 meters deep. The associated meteorite had hit an estimated diameter of 25 to 30 meters, a mass 150000-5 million tons and is equipped with a speed of 15 up to 20 km / s. Of the total initial mass of the meteorite only 30 tons have been found so far.

The meteorite comes from the asteroid belt and is classified as a rough octahedrite Group IA. Means uranium - lead dating at the Canyon Diablo was first closed in the 1950s by Clair Cameron Patterson, and Friedrich Georg Houtermans on the age of the Earth of 4.55 billion years.

Chemical composition: 91.6 % iron; 7.1% nickel; 1 % carbon; 1% sulfur; 0.26% phosphorus; 80 ppm gallium; 320 ppm of germanium; 1.9 ppm iridium. Henri Moissan discovered in these meteorites in 1893 was named after him Moissanite.