Iron meteorite | |
---|---|
— Type — | |
Compositional type | Iron |
Parent body | >50 |
Composition | >95% iron, nickel, and cobalt; 5–25% nickel |
TKW | c. 500 short tons (450 t) |
Widmanstätten pattern as seen on an etched and polished slice of the Seymchan meteorite. Scale unknown. |
Iron meteorites, also called siderites or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron meteorites originate from cores of planetesimals,[2] with the exception of the IIE iron meteorite group.[3]
The iron found in iron meteorites was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans, due to the malleability and ductility of the meteoric iron,[4] before the development of smelting that signaled the beginning of the Iron Age.