The Old Woman Meteorite is the largest

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object en ...

found in California and the second largest in the United States. It was discovered in the

Old Woman Mountains The Old Woman Mountains are located south of the town of Essex, California, and north of Danby Dry Lake. The range reaches an elevation of at the west end (Old Woman Mountain), and lies in San Bernardino County in the Mojave Desert. Geography Th ...

in southern California in late 1975. It is long, high, and wide. The meteorite is mostly composed of iron, but also contains nickel (about 6%), as well as small amounts of

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and h ...

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the 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. The free element, ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...

, and

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

. The main mass was put on display in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

from 1978 to 1980, and now resides in the

Desert Discovery Center The Desert Discovery Center is a public-run community education center located in Barstow, California. The center is staffed by the Bureau of Land Management and focuses on promoting awareness of desert life to local residents. The Center is a p ...

in Barstow, California. It originally weighed , but has since had a slice removed for scientific study. A slab is on display in the UCLA meteorite gallery. The iron meteorite was discovered by two prospectors who, along with a third partner, filed a placer claim on the area where the meteorite was found. The Smithsonian Institution disputed their claim of ownership of the meteorite, so the claim-stakers filed a lawsuit. The Smithsonian went forward with moving the meteorite off of the mountain with the help of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

(using a helicopter and cargo net), and it was taken to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) facility for storage during the lengthy court proceedings. After the courts ruled in favor of the U.S. Government, the Secretary of the Interior decreed that, although the Smithsonian was the legally designated curator of the public's meteorite, it would be placed on long-term loan and displayed in California.

References

External links

Wilderness.net

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Old Woman Meteorite The Old Woman Meteorite is the largest meteorite found in California and the second largest in the United States. It was discovered in the Old Woman Mountains in southern California in late 1975. It is long, high, and wide. The meteorite is m ...

Natural history of the Mojave Desert Geography of San Bernardino County, California Mojave Desert Meteorites found in the United States Geology of California

See also

References

External links