1568
Canyon Diablo Meteorit

Canyon Diablo meteorite

6 x 8 cm.
Weight: 528 g.
Site of discovery: Arizona, US.
Age: 4.55 billion years.

Notes:
The Canyon Diablo meteorites include the many fragments of the asteroid that created Barringer Crater (Meteor Crater), Arizona, United States. Meteorites have been found around the crater rim, and are named for nearby Canyon Diablo, which lies about three to four miles west of the crater. The asteroid fell about 50,000 years ago. The meteorites have been known and collected since the mid-19th century and were known and used by pre-historic Native Americans. The Barringer Crater, from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, was the center of a long dispute over the origin of craters that showed little evidence of volcanism. In 1953, Clair Cameron Patterson measured ratios of the lead isotopes in samples of the meteorite. The result permitted a refinement of the estimate of the age of the Earth to 4.550 billion years.