Cape York meteorite
Cape York | |
---|---|
Type | Iron |
Structural classification | Octahedrite, medium |
Group | IIIAB |
Composition | 7.58% Ni, 19.2 ppm Ga, 36.0 ppm Ge, 5.0 ppm Ir |
Country | Greenland |
Region | Avannaata |
Coordinates | 76°08′N 64°56′W / 76.133°N 64.933°W[1] |
Fall date | A few thousand years ago[2] |
Found date | Prehistoric[2] |
TKW | 58,200 kg[1] |
Related media on Wikimedia Commons |
The Cape York meteorite, also known as the Innaanganeq meteorite, is one of the largest known iron meteorites, classified as a medium octahedrite in chemical group IIIAB. In addition to many small fragments, at least eight large fragments with a total mass of 58 tonnes have been recovered,[2] the largest weighing 31 tonnes (31 long tons; 34 short tons). The meteorite is named after the location where the largest fragment was found: 23 miles (37 km) east of Cape York, in Savissivik, Meteorite Island, Greenland.
The date of the meteorite fall is debated, but was likely within the last few thousand years.
History
The meteorite fell to Earth after the retreat of glaciers from the area. All fragments recovered were found at the surface, partly buried, some on unstable terrain. The largest fragment was recovered in an area where the landscape consists of "flowing" gravel or clay-like sediments on permafrost, indicating that it had been in place for no more than a few thousand years.[2] Other estimates have put the date of the fall as 10,000 years ago.[3]
The iron masses were known to
In 1818, the British
Between 1818 and 1883, five further expeditions to the area were mounted by Britain, Sweden, and Denmark, which all failed to find the source of the iron.
Peary has received significant criticism for his removal of the meteorite and treatment of the Inuit (including Minik Wallace). During his expedition to retrieve the meteorite, Peary convinced six Inughuit Greenlandic Inuit people ("three men, one woman, a boy, and a girl") to travel with him for study at the American Museum of Natural History in the United States, where four died within a few months.[11]
In 1963, a fourth major piece of the Cape York meteorite was discovered by
Specimens
Each of the most important fragments of Cape York has its own name (listed in order of discovery date by foreigners):
- Ahnighito (the Tent), 30,900 kilograms (68,100 lb),[12] 1884–1897, Meteorite Island, 76°04'N – 64°58'W
- Woman, 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb),[12] 1897, Saveruluk, 76°09'N – 64°56'W
- Dog, 400 kilograms (880 lb), 1897, Saveruluk, 76°09'N – 64°56'W
- Savik I, 3,400 kilograms (7,500 lb),[12] 1913, Savequarfik, 76°08'N – 64°36'W
- Thule, 48.6 kilograms (107 lb), summer 1955, Thule, 76°32'N – 67°33'W[13]
- Savik II, 7.8 kilograms (17 lb), 1961, Savequarfik, 76°08'N – 64°36'W
- Agpalilik (the Man), 20,000 kilograms (44,000 lb), 1963, Agpalilik, 76°09'N – 65°10'W[12]
- Tunorput, 250 kilograms (550 lb), 1984
-
Slice of Agpalilik in the Geological Museum in Copenhagen
-
Agpalilik outside the Geological Museum in Copenhagen
Composition and classification
It is an iron meteorite (medium octahedrite) and belongs to the chemical group IIIAB.[1] There are abundant elongated
In popular culture
- In the manga and anime series Diamond is Unbreakable and Golden Wind story arcs prominently feature a set of six arrows which are made out of meteoric iron sourced from the Cape York meteorite.[16]
See also
- Glossary of meteoritics
- History of ferrous metallurgy
- List of largest meteorites on Earth
- Archaeometallurgy
- Inuit culture
- Meteoric iron
References
- ^ a b c Cape York on the Meteoritical Bulletin Database
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Appelt, Martin; Jensen, Jens Fog; Myrup, Mikkel; Haack, Henning; Sørensen, Mikkel; Taube, Michelle (2014). The cultural history of the Innaanganeq/Cape York meteorite (PDF) (Report). The Greenland National Museum & Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- S2CID 129339473.
- ^ Peary, Robert (1898). Northward Over the "Great Ice". F. A. Stokes Company. pp. 583–84.
- ^ a b The Permanent Commission on Meteorites of the International Geological Congress (1963). "Discovery of Cape York (Apalilik) Iron Meteorite, Northwest Greenland" (PDF). Meteoritical Bulletin. 28.
- JSTOR 2844401.
- .
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55238-050-5.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Ahnighito". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
- ISBN 9780743410052.
- ^ ISBN 0-521-64587-5
- ^ Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Thule
- ^ Zipfel, J.; Kim, Y.; Marti, K. Nitrogen Isotopic Disequilibrium in the Cape York III A Iron
- National Geographic. 159 (5): 600.
- ^ "Bow and Arrow".
Bibliography
- Patricia A. M. Huntington. Robert E Peary and the Cape York meteorites