| Stone Meteorites |
| Stone meteorites make up about 95% of all meteorite falls. If a stone meteorite is not observed to fall, it is less likely to be found than an iron or a stony-iron meteorite because of it's similarity to terrestrial rocks and because stone meteorites are generally more susceptible to weathering than the other 2 classes. |
| Chondrites: Chondrites are the most common type of stone meteorite. They come from undifferentiated asteroids, that is, asteroids that have not been heated enough to melt. The earth is an example of a body that has been differentiated. The earth was molten while it was forming and the denser elements such as iron, settled to the center to form the iron core. Because of this seperation, crustal rocks tend to be low in iron and other heavy metals that have settled to the core. Chondrites contain approximately the same relative abundances of elements as the presolar nebula because they have not been subjected to this gravitational seperation. Chondrites are named after spheres of minerals called chondrules that are found in abundance throughout these meteorites. The carbonaceous (C) chondrites contain the oldest substances ever sampled. |
| Mbale, Uganda L6 chondrite Fell-Aug. 14, 1992 Slice |
| NWA 785, Morocco L6 chondrite Found-2001 |
| NWA 412, Morocco Unknown class chondrite Found-Oct. 2001 |
| NWA 241, Morocco H4 chondrite Found-2000 Slice |
| Bensour, Morocco LL6 brecciated chondrite Fell-Feb. 10, 2002 Fusion crusted fragments |
| Allende, Chihuahua state, Mexico CV3 carbonaceous chondrite Fell-Feb. 8, 1969 Fusion crusted endpiece |
| DAG 388, Morocco H5/6 chondrite Found-1998 Endpiece |
| Gao/Guenie, Upper Volta H5 chondrite Fell-March 5, 1960 Oriented whole specimen |
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| NWA 1076, Morocco CR2 carbonaceous chondrite Found-Unknown date Endpiece |
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| Park Forest, Illinois, USA L5 chondrite Fell-March 26, 2003 Slice |
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| NWA, Morocco Unclassified chondrite Found-Unknown Broken specimen with weathered fusion crust |
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| NWA, Morocco Unclassified chondrites Found-Unknown Endpieces |
| Achondrites Achondrites come from the crusts of differentiated bodies such as asteroids that have melted and occationally larger bodies such as the moon and Mars. They are equivilent to igneous rocks here on earth. Achondrites can be basaltic, formed from surface lava flows, or plutonic, formed from slowly cooling magma beneath the planet/asteroids surface. Some achondrites contain both types which have been mixed together in violent impacts. |
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| DAG 476, Morocco Shergottite Found-May 1, 1998 Slice from the planet Mars |
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| NWA 769, Morocco Eucrite, monomict breccia Found-2001 Slice from asteroid 4 Vesta |
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