Iron Meteorite
Phenomenal & Rare Gems
Iron meteorites are meteorites made predominantly of meteoric iron, an iron-nickel alloy usually containing the mineral phases kamacite and taenite. Most are fragments of the metallic cores of ancient small planetary bodies broken apart by impacts.
Identity
- Material or variety
- Iron-nickel alloy
- Scientific or material identity
- Iron meteorite
- Classification
- Meteorite material
- Aliases or trade names
- Ferrous meteorite · Siderite
- Composition or formula
- Fe–Ni alloy with accessory minerals
- Crystal system or structure
- Aggregate or composite structure
- Geological or manufacturing origin
- Formed in a parent body beyond Earth and arrived as a meteorite.
- Mohs hardness
- 4 to 5
- Specific gravity
- 7 to 8
Origins
Argentina · Namibia · Russia · USA
Appearance & optical properties
silver-gray iron meteorite with etched crosshatched metal texture.
History & discovery
Before iron smelting became widespread, meteoric iron provided people with workable metal. It was forged into tools, weapons, and ceremonial objects; Tutankhamun's dagger is a well-known example. Etched intergrowth patterns later became an important way to classify many iron meteorites.
Uses & care
- Common uses
- Historic uses include tools, weapons, and cultural objects. Today, iron meteorites are studied in planetary science and kept in museum and private collections.
Jewellery
6 pieces of Iron Meteorite jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.
Thule Iron Ring
Ring
A plain band cut from a meteorite that fell in the far north, its surface ground to reveal a silver lattice of metal.
Pallas Neck Ring
Necklace
A sturdy collar of worked meteoric iron, echoing the blades the Inuit shaped from a great fallen star.
Widmanstatten Cuff
Bracelet
A cuff whose metal was etched with acid to reveal the long criss-cross pattern that only space metal forms.
Tutankhamun Meteoric Iron Dagger
Jewel
A dagger found in Tutankhamun tomb has a blade of meteoric iron and a golden hilt. It is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Gerzeh Iron Beads
Necklace
Iron beads from a man's grave in the Gerzeh cemetery, 70 km south of Cairo, found in 1911 strung with other precious stones across his waist and neck. A bead studied at the Manchester Museum in 2013 matched meteorite iron, worked into a thin sheet and bent into a tube.
Mörigen Arrowhead
Jewel
A Bronze Age arrowhead made from meteorite iron, found in 1873 in Lake Biel during excavations of a settlement of 900 to 800 BC, and kept in the Bern Historical Museum. A 2023 analysis confirmed that its iron came from space. It measures 39.3 by 25 by 2.6 millimetres and weighs about 2.9 grams.