Meteorite Cape York – Greenland
Type: Iron meteorite / IIIAB
Locality: Greenland
Weight: 3,65g
Dimensions: 17 x 14 x 2 mm
Year found: 1818
Total known weight: 58,2 tonnes
Surface treatment: cut, polished slice
Packaging: Transparent plastic box (5,8 x 3,8 x 1,6 cm)
| Category: | Cut and polished |
|---|---|
| By name: | Cape York |
| ? Type: | Iron |
| ? Surface treatment: | Cut |
| Packaging: | In box |
| Specialties: | Widmanstätten's patterns |
The Cape York meteorite is one of the largest iron meteorites ever found on Earth. It landed approximately 10,000 years ago in the North Greenland area near Cape York. The local Inuit have known about it for centuries and used its iron to make tools such as spearheads and knives because there were no natural sources of the metal in the area.
The first mention of the meteorite dates back to 1818, when British explorer John Ross discovered during his expedition that the Inuit had iron tools from an unknown source. However, the actual discovery of the meteorite was not made until 1894 by the American explorer Robert Peary. A year later, he managed to transport the largest pieces of the meteorite to the United States, a huge logistical task - the largest fragment, for example, weighed 31 tonnes and a special ramp had to be built to get it onto the ship. Today, the pieces are on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The largest fragment is called Ahnighito, weighs over 31 tonnes and is one of the largest meteorites on display at the museum. The other two smaller pieces, called Woman (3 tons) and Dog (400 kg), are named after Inuit legends. The Cape York meteorite is significant not only for its size, but also for the way it affected the lives of Greenland's indigenous people long before the rest of the world knew about it.
The Cape York meteorite is composed mainly of iron and nickel, which is typical of iron meteorites. It also contains small amounts of other elements such as cobalt and phosphorus. The high iron content makes it extremely heavy and strong, which explains why the Inuit used it to make tools - no other metals were available in their area.
Inside the meteorite, there is also a structure called Widmanstätten patterns - complex patterns that form when the metal cools very slowly in space. These patterns appear when the meteorite is cut and etched with acid. They give us valuable information about how the meteorite formed - for example, that it formed deep in the core of an ancient planet or asteroid that no longer exists today.