Siderites or Iron Meteorites

Siderites or Iron Meteorites:

·         Iron Meteorite or siderites, found in 1864 in the Sahara Desert  weight about 500 kg. On display at Vulcania park in France.

·         Siderites are meteorites that consist of nickel–iron alloys.

·         The metal taken from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron and it was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans.

·         Siderites are very dense and nonporous specimens, and are thus much heavier than most comparably-sized rocks found in the Earth's crust.

·         They also have metallic silver-colored interiors.

·         Siderites are thought to be the fragments of the core of larger ancient asteroids that have been shattered by impacts.

·         Only 6% of meteorites are iron meteorites in total numbers of meteorites in the solar system.

·         About 5% of meteorites that fall are iron meteorites with intergrowths of iron-nickel alloys, such as kamacite and taenite.