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GCC Meteorite Collection
SC2

Welcome to the METEORITE page of the Earth Science Image Archive. 

The meteorite images include a variety of meteorite types.  Although the conventional method of naming meteorites is to use a geographical reference point, like Canyon Diablo for the meteor that created Meteor Crater in Arizona, many meteorites are simply classified by their structure and composition.  On this page the meteorite images will be accompanied by as much information as I can provide.  For a complete list of meteorite classification do a "Google" search for "meteorite classification".  You will find many links to answer any questions you may have on the topic.

This page is linked to two meteorite collections:

The Glendale Community College Collection

SC2 Collection

In each case permission has been granted to post images for people to use for academic purposes.

To access these collections, follow the links in left margin or click on the active hyperlink text.

Meteorites are divided into three very basic types.  They are stony, stony iron and iron.  There are many subdivisions of these major categories and the iron meteorites pictured above make up about 5% of the meteorites that fall to Earth.  The iron meteorites show Widmanstatten structure which is a crystalline pattern produced by the solidification of a molten mass.  This pattern was first identified by an Italian by the name of William Thompson, in 1804.  In 1808 Austrian metallurgist - Count Alois von Widmanstatten, who was the director of the Imperial Porcelain Works identified the crystalline pattern which now bares his name.

Widmanstatten structure is the result of the crystalline growth of iron-nickel minerals Kamacite and Taenite from a molten mass.  The implication of the structure is that the large crystal were formed by slow cooling over millions of years - the molten mass must have been insulated by extensive outer layers of materials and thus Widmanstatten structure represents the core of an asteroid or planetesimal.