Toluca is a shower of
iron meteorite
Iron meteorites, also known as 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 i ...
s found in
Jiquipilco, Mexico near
Toluca
Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...
.
History
The meteorites crashed towards the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...
more than 10,000 years earlier.
For centuries, Mexican people living near the meteorites used them as a source of metal for various tools. They were seen by
conquistadores about 1776.
The
total known mass Total known weight (TKW), also total known mass,The British and Irish Meteorite SocietyGlossary/ref> is a term used mainly by dealers and meteorite collectors to indicate the combined weight of all known pieces from a single named meteorite. The tot ...
is about 3
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s.
Composition and classification
These iron meteorites are a coarse
octahedrite
Octahedrites are the most common 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 taenite while cooling.
Structure
Octahedr ...
, chemical type
IAB-sLL.
The mean composition is 90.5%
Fe and 8.1%
Ni.
They often contain large
troilite
Troilite is a rare iron sulfide mineral with the simple formula of FeS. It is the iron-rich endmember of the pyrrhotite group. Pyrrhotite has the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2) which is iron deficient. As troilite lacks the iron deficiency whic ...
inclusions.
See also
*
Glossary of meteoritics
This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.
#
* 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites.
* 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid b ...
References
{{Meteorites
Meteorites found in Mexico
Toluca
History of the State of Mexico
Natural history of the State of Mexico