Importance of meteorites in Geology

 

     

                 image: largest meteorite on the earth, Hoba meteorite,Namibia

Earth is not considered as a closed system because of the addition of different materials from outer space and also escape of gases to the space.

The addition process is dominated by the falling of materials like meteorites on the surface of the earth.

Meteorites are generally the fragmented rock particles that enter the atmosphere from outer space and settle on the earth surface.

The basic and the most importance of meteorite is that it helps to know about the space and solar system.

For geological point of view also it is equally important.

In geology the composition is always the first priority.

Generally meteorites are nothing but fragments of stone, so they commonly consists of silicate minerals followed by the abundance of dense elements like iron and nickel and also the traces of elements like cobalt.

These stones are called chondrites and achondrites respectively depending upon their constituent and properties.

If the stone/meteorite is strong and unaltered by melting or differentiation then it is called chondrite.

Unlike chondrite, the stone which is modified by melting and differentiation like plutonic rocks is called achondrite.

The composition of this foreign material can be compared to the composition of elements in the earth and also helps to know about the composition materials in outer space.

By knowing the age of the meteorite on the earth also helps to determine the different geological time and history of the earth.

It is believed that meteorite of age 4.6 billion years which is equivalent to the age of earth was found on the earth and it contained water molecule which later supposed to help in the origin of life on the earth.

The largest meteorite ever found on the earth is named as a Hoba meteorite which was identified in Namibia in 1920.

It supposed to have weight more than 60 tonne and roughly 9 feet long.

It is dominated in composition by iron and nickel.

It has the estimated age of less than 80,000 years.

 

 

Reference

 McSween, Harry (1999). Meteorites and their parent planets. Cambridge University Press.