Naturally occurring space objects falling to Earth most often burn up in the atmosphere. For this, we should thank our dense atmosphere. But she sometimes has interruptions in work. Especially when it comes to fairly large space objects. In this case, even the dense atmosphere does not always have time to incinerate the uninvited guest, and the most "lucky" ones fall to the ground. Having fallen to the surface, they can lie like this for thousands of years, absolutely unnoticed by anyone. But in the end, glory comes to their lives.
Space blocks larger in size are usually called asteroids. These guys are much more dangerous and capable of causing much more problems for Mother Earth than meteorites and even more so meteoroids. Many have heard the story that about 65 million years ago, dinosaurs who lived and did not grieve on Earth suddenly became extinct. Rumor has it that this is the case of just one of them, or rather the consequences that he created. A similar story could have happened in 2013, but we were lucky, and the space object 2012 DA14 missed our planet at a distance of 27,743 km.
Today we will consider the "six" of the largest space stones that fell on our planet, preserved their integrity and were subsequently found by scientists.
Willamette
Willamette is the largest meteorite ever found in the United States. It weighs over 15.5 tons and measures about 7.8 square meters. Willamette is composed primarily of iron and nickel. It is believed to have fallen to Earth about 1 billion years ago.
Photo of a meteorite taken at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 1911
Promotional video:
The meteorite has a rather interesting history. It was discovered by an immigrant from Wales and miner Ellis Hughes in 1902, who immediately realized that there was more than just a large rock in front of him. In the end, he spent three months trying to move the find to his land. After that, he began to charge visitors for 25 cents for her inspection. However, the fraud was quickly exposed, and the Oregon Steel Company received the right to the meteorite.
In 1905, the meteorite was bought by a private person for 26 thousand dollars and in 1906 donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where it is now on display for visitors. After its transfer, the rights to the meteorite were claimed by a tribe of Indians from Oregon. They referred to the fact that the meteorite for them became a kind of religious totem and is necessary for the annual ceremony. But since by this time the main building of the museum had already been erected around the meteorite, it was impossible to transfer it without destroying the walls of the museum. As a result, the parties agreed that once a year, members of the tribe are allowed to perform their rituals directly in the museum.
Mbosi
The Mbosi meteorite was discovered in Tanzania in 1930. It is about 3 meters in size and at the same time weighs 25 tons, that is, it is almost twice as heavy as Willamette. Mbosi is a sacred stone for Tanzanians who call it "kimondo" (Swahili for "meteor").
Interestingly, no crater was found around Mbosi, which may indicate that it fell to Earth tangentially and, most likely, rolled from the crash site like a boulder. When Mbosi was discovered, it was partially drowned in the ground, so people first dug a hole near it, leaving a small piece of land directly under the stone itself, which later became its pedestal.
Analysis showed that Mbosi is 90 percent iron. Nickel accounts for about 8 percent of its composition. The rest is sulfur, copper and phosphorus. It is assumed that this meteorite fell to Earth several thousand years ago, but scientists are surprised by the fact that it has not undergone weathering and erosion during all this time. Scientists also note that it did not burn out in the atmosphere due to its size, and that what remained intact during the fall, this, on the contrary, is due to insufficient mass for this.
Cape York
The Cape York meteorite is the third largest found meteorite on Earth. It fell to our planet about 10,000 years ago. Named after the site where the largest of its wreckage weighing 31 tons was found on the island of Greenland. The dimensions are 3.4 x 2.1 x 1.7 m. Not far from it, two more fragments were found weighing 3 tons and 400 kilograms, respectively. However, the total weight of the meteorite is estimated at about 58.2 tons.
The first mention of this meteorite appeared in 1818. The Scottish navigator John Ross, who was looking for the Northern Sea Route and discovered a previously unknown Eskimo settlement, was surprised that people unfamiliar with metalworking used arrowheads and knives, apparently made of iron, in their craft. The Eskimos told him that the source of the metal was a certain "iron mountain", the information on the location of which, unfortunately, was lost behind the veil of history. When analyzing the objects taken with them to England, it was found that they contain a very high concentration of nickel - higher than in any other natural source on Earth.
One of the fragments of the meteorite, named Anigito. Eskimo is nearby
Despite numerous further attempts to find the place where the meteorite fell, it was not possible until 1894. Then he was discovered by the American navigator and explorer Robert Peary, who, thanks to the brave Eskimo guide, went to the right place and found three fragments at once. They were later transported by ship to the American Museum of Natural History.
Other parts of the meteorite, including a 20-ton fragment dubbed Agpalilik, were found from 1911 to 1984. The meteorite is currently on display at the Geological Museum of the University of Copenhagen.
Bakubirito
The largest meteorite ever discovered in Mexico. It weighs about the same as Agpalilik - about 20-22 tons - with dimensions 4.25 x, 2 x 1.75 m. It consists mainly of iron.
Bakubirito was discovered in 1893 by geologist Gilbert Ellis Bailey, who, on the instructions of the Chicago magazine Interocean to Central and South America, traveled to Mexico and dug up a meteorite with the help of local residents. Now on display at the Centro de Ciencias de Sinaloa Science Center.
El Chaco
El Chaco is the second largest discovered meteorite on Earth, and its weight is almost twice that of the Bakubirito meteorite. Interestingly, El Chaco is just one of the meteorite fragments dubbed Campo del Cielo. These guys are responsible for the formation of a 60 square kilometers crater in the Argentinean town of the same name.
As mentioned above, El Chaco is the second largest meteorite on Earth. Its weight is 37 tons. It was discovered in 1969. Since he was buried underground, they managed to find him using a metal detector.
One interesting story is connected with this meteorite. One of the "meteorite hunters" named Robert Haag tried to steal El Chaco, but was caught by a local Argentine police officer.
Another meteorite weighing almost 31 tons was discovered near this place in 2016, which is believed to be one of the fragments of El Chaco.
Goba
And yet the title of the largest meteorite found belongs to the giant Goba. It was discovered in Namibia in 1920 by a farm owner plowing the land. Since then, he has never been transported anywhere.
Goba weighs almost twice the weight of El Chaco at almost 66 tons. It is believed to have fallen to Earth about 80,000 years ago. According to one theory, the meteorite did not go deep into the ground when it fell because of its shape - it is very flat.
The goba is regarded as the largest naturally occurring lump of iron on earth. Its volume is 9 cubic meters. In 1955, this meteorite was declared a national monument by the government of South West Africa. In the 80s, the meteorite itself and the land on which it is located were donated to the state. Since then, it has been a tourist attraction.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK