.51" Bondoc Mesosiderite Meteorite (2g) - Philippines

This is a .51" wide (2.0 gram) stony-iron mesosiderite meteorite from the Bondoc fall on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. This fall has produced almost 900 kilograms of material since its discovery in 1956. It comes in an acrylic display case. Some clasts in its composition are very similar to diogenties from 4 Vesta, but it can be ruled out as a diogenite due to the variety of other materials it contains that cannot come from Vesta.

Mesosiderites are a rare kind of stony-iron meteorite: only 208 are known, and over a quarter of them have been found in Antarctica. Only 7 mesosidertite falls have ever been witnessed, and what meteorites are found tend to be large masses.

They are characterized by an almost even proportion of metallic nickel-iron and silicates, and often have irregular, brecciated textures. They contain many compositional similarities to diogenites and eucrites from 4 Vesta. Some scientists believe they are sourced from the smaller asteroid 16 Psyche.

Perhaps the most well-known mesosiderite is the Vaca Muerta fall in Chile, which has produced well over 3 metric tons of material since its recognition as a meteorite in the 19th century. Other well-known mesosiderites include the Estherville meteorite, which fell in Iowa in 1879; the Lowicz fall in Poland in 1935; and the famous Chinguetti meteorite out of Mauritania.


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DETAILS
TYPE
Stony-Iron Mesosiderite
LOCATION
Quezon Province, Luzon, Philippines
SIZE
.51 x .46 x .31", 2.0 grams
CATEGORY
ITEM
#266044