Meteorites ✩°｡🧸𓏲⋆.🧺𖦹 ₊˚

G9 Mathematics Term 1

Physical samples of materials that formed and differentiated in the Early Solar System, just like Earth.

Meteorites

States the evidence and explains what the evidence means.

Strong Scientific Answer

A small natural object moving through space.

Meteoroid

The streak of light produced as it passes through the atmosphere.

Meteor

A piece that survives the atmosphere and reaches the ground.

Meteorite

They preserve materials from the early solar system.

Meteorites

Samples of planetary building materials—not direct samples of Earth’s deep interior.

Meteorites

Some meteorite material are formed about __________.

4.5-4.6 billion years ago

______ contain rocky silicates, iron-nickel metal, or mixture of both.

Meteorites

How many are the major meteorite types?

3

What are the major meteorite types?

Stony (Chondrite), Iron (Meteorite), & Stony-Iron (Pallasite)

Mostly silicate minerals.

Stony (Chondrite)

Often contains small metal grains.

Stony (Chondrite)

Tells us about rocky building materials—like Earth’s crust and mantle.

Stony (Chondrite)

Mostly iron-nickel material.

Iron (Meteorite)

Very dense and strongly metallic.

Iron (Meteorite)

Tells us about metal-rich materials—like Earth’s core.

Iron (Meteorite)

Large amounts of both metal and silicate.

Stony-Iron (Pallasite)

Contain olivine (olive-green crystals) + Fe-Ni

Stony-Iron (Pallasite)

Tells us about mixing of rocky and metallic materials during planetary formation.

Stony-Iron (Pallasite)

Stony meteorites made mostly of silicate materials and preserve very old solar system material.

Stony (Chondrite)

Support the idea that much of a rocky planet is made of silicate-rich material.

Chondritic Meteorites

Samples of asteroid cores and support an iron-nickel-rich planetary core model.

Iron Meteorites

Golden/Green Crystals

Iron (Meteorite)

Iron-nickel metal

Iron (Meteorite)

Rocky and metallic materials can exist together in differentiated bodies.

Iron (Meteorite)

Not pieces of Earth’s interior, but they preserve the materials and processes that help scientists build a model of Earth’s composition.

Meteorites

Silicate rocks

Crust

Rich in oxygen and silicon

Crust

Forms Earth’s thin outer layer

Crust

Mg-Fe silicate materials

Mantle

Rocky material

Mantle

Thickest layer of Earth

Mantle

Solid but able to flow very smoothly

Mantle

Mostly iron + nickel.

Core

Metallic material

Core

Very hot and very dense

Core

Generates Earth’s magnetic field

Core

Tells us structure and physical state

Seismic Waves

Composition clues

Meteorites

Rocky appearance

Stony (Chondrite)

Moderate density (-3.4 g/cm³)

Stony (Chondrite)

Strongly magnetic

Iron (Meteorite)

Very dense (-7.5 g/cm³)

Iron (Meteorite)

Metallic appearance

Iron (Meteorite)

Contains visible olivine crystals

Stony-Iron (Pallasite)

Contains abundant iron-nickel metal

Stony-Iron (Pallasite)

Mixture of rocky and metallic material

Stony-Iron (Pallasite)