Campo del Cielo
Meteorite, tektite, or impactite
Take care.
- Breaks down in damp air: Keep it dry and in steady humidity; some crumble or rot as they take on moisture.
About it
Coarse octahedrite (IAB) from a crater field in Chaco, Argentina, where tonnes of iron fell some 4,000 to 5,000 years ago; its masses include El Chaco and Gancedo. Common and affordable, but it rusts readily.
- Type
- Meteorite, tektite, or impactite (iron)
- Group
- Iron meteorite, IAB (coarse octahedrite)
- Specific gravity
- 7.5–8
- Lustre
- metallic
- Colours
- black to brown crust, steel grey when cut, rusty brown when weathered
- Transparency
- opaque
- Magnetic
- Strongly
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.