Gibeon is a

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

that fell in

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

times in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It was named after the nearest town: Gibeon.

History

The meteorite was discovered by the

Nama people Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Khoekhoe language, Nama language of the Khoe languages, Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama ...

and used by them to make tools and weapons, including heads for their assegais. In 1836 the English captain J. E. Alexander collected samples of the meteorite in the vicinity of the Fish River and sent them to London. There

John Herschel Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor and experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical work. ...

analyzed them and confirmed for the first time the extraterrestrial nature of the material. Between 1911 and 1913, 33 fragments of the meteorite were collected in the vicinity of Gibeon and brought to the capital

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

. They weighed between and were first stored, then displayed at the

Zoo Park Zoo Park is a public park on Independence Avenue in downtown Windhoek, Namibia. It is also a focal point of social life in the city.

as a single heap. In 1975 a public fountain displaying the meteorite fragments was planned. The pieces were removed and stored at the

Alte Feste The Alte Feste () is a fortress and museum in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is situated in Robert Mugabe Avenue, next to the Independence Memorial Museum. History The building was designed by captain Curt von François, in order ...

, where two of the fragments were stolen. The fountain was eventually erected in Post Street Mall, with two empty pillars for the missing fragments. Since then, two more fragments were removed from the fountain, so that it displays only 29 pieces today. The collection displayed on the fountain in Windhoek's Central Business District was proclaimed a National Monument ( geology) on 15 February 1950. Additionally, it was decided that all meteorites found in Namibia would automatically be protected as National Monuments and should not be removed from where they have been found, nor damaged in any way.

Strewn field

The fragments of the meteorite in the

strewn field A strewn field is the area where meteorites from a single meteorite fall, fall are dispersed. It is also often used for the area containing tektite, tektites produced by a large meteorite impact.''Tektites in the geological record: showers of glas ...

were dispersed over an elliptical area long and wide, the second largest known strewn field in the world (after

Aletai meteorite The Aletai meteorite, previously also known as the Armanty meteorite or Xinjiang meteorite, is one of the largest known iron meteorites, classified as a coarse octahedrite in chemical group IIIE-an. In addition to many small fragments, at least fi ...

strewn field in Northwestern China). The core of this area is situated near the village of Gibeon in Namibia's

Hardap Region Hardap is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Mariental. Hardap contains the municipality of Mariental, the towns Rehoboth and Aranos, and the self-governed villages Gibeon, Gochas, Kalkrand, Stampriet and Maltahöhe. I ...

. About 100–150 different fragments have been collected over time, and additional pieces are found occasionally.

Composition and classification

The term Gibeon encompasses the total extent of meteoritic material fallen from the sky during this fall. This material is classified as

iron meteorite 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 me ...

belonging to the chemical group IVA. Gibeon meteorites are composed of an

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

alloy containing significant amounts of

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

. The crystal structure of this meteorite provides a classic example of fine

octahedrite Octahedrites are the most common Iron meteorite#Structural classification, structural class of iron meteorites. The structures occur because the meteoric iron has a certain nickel concentration that leads to the exsolution of kamacite out of tae ...

and the

Widmanstätten pattern Widmanstätten patterns (), also known as Thomson structures, are figures of long Phase (matter), phases of nickel–iron, found in the octahedrite shapes of iron meteorite crystals and some pallasites. Iron meteorites are very often formed ...

is appreciated for its beauty both by collectors and designers of jewelry.

References

External links

Gibeon Iron Meteorites: Their Discovery, History and Research
{{Meteorites by name Meteorites found in Namibia National Monuments of Namibia

History

Strewn field

Composition and classification

See also

References

External links