Meteorite from Campo del Cielo in Argentina, 792 gram

Campo del Cielo Meteorites

Campo del Cielo — which means “Field of the Sky” or “Field of Heaven” in Spanish — refers both to a group of iron meteorites and the large impact crater field in which they were found.

Basic Facts

• Location: Gran Chaco region, northern Argentina — mainly in the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero.
• Coordinates: Roughly 27°39′S, 61°42′W.
• Age: Estimated to have fallen around 4,200–4,700 years ago (~2,200–2,700 BC).
• Composition: Iron meteorite, classified as an IAB-MG (medium octahedrite); about 92% iron, ~6% nickel, plus cobalt, phosphorus, and trace elements.

The Crater Field

• The Campo del Cielo site isn’t just one crater — it’s a field of at least 26 meteorite craters, spread over an area roughly 3 km wide and 19 km long.
• The craters range from a few meters up to 115 meters in diameter.
• The largest fragment discovered so far is the Gancedo meteorite, found in 2016 — it weighs about 30,800 kg (30.8 tons), making it one of the largest single meteorite masses ever recovered.

Discovery & Indigenous Knowledge

• Local indigenous peoples knew about the iron masses long before Europeans arrived. They used pieces of the meteorite iron for tools.
• The first written record came in 1576, when Spanish explorers noted reports of a “mass of iron from the sky.”
• Systematic scientific studies began in the 19th century, and the site has been excavated and studied multiple times since.

Scientific Significance

• Campo del Cielo is one of the world’s best-known iron meteorite sites and has helped scientists understand:
• Iron meteorite formation in the early solar system.
• The impact processes when large iron meteoroids hit Earth’s surface.
• Ancient human use of meteoritic iron.

About the Region

• The site is in the Gran Chaco Plain, a flat subtropical forest and savanna region stretching across Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia.
• The terrain is generally dry, scrubby, and hot, which helped preserve the iron masses for thousands of years.

Collecting & Preservation

• Campo del Cielo fragments are popular among collectors because they are:
• Readily identifiable.
• Have a distinctive crystalline pattern (Widmanstätten structure) when cut and etched.
• Historically significant.

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