Forest City meteorite, Winnebago Co., Iowa, USA

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	43° 15' North , 93° 40' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	43.25000,-93.66667
Non-native locality type:	Meteorite
Meteorite Class:	H5 chondrite meteorite
Meteoritical Society Class:	H5
Metbull:	View entry in Meteoritical Bulletin Database
Köppen climate type:	Dfa : Hot-summer humid continental climate

Ordinary chondrite (H5)
Fell, 2 May 1950; 152 kg, shower

Late in the day a shower of stones fell over an 2 x 3 km area northwest of Forest City. Two large stones (34 & 30 kg) accounted for over 40% of the mass with thousands of smaller ones were recovered (5 kg to a few grams). Olivine (Fa19) and orthopyroxene (Fs16) dominate both chondrules and matrix with olivine crystals generally larger than the more fine-grained pyroxene grains. Fe-Ni metal and troilite are usually confined to the matrix. Plagioclase (An10) and chromite are found as minor constituents. Accessory copper and ilmenite are also reported. Ca-rich clinopyroxene and phosphate are apparently present, but were not definitely identified in the cited sources. Total iron composition (27.2 wt%), olivine and orthopyroxene composition, and fairly well-equilibrated textures have led to Forest City's classification as an H5 ordinary chondrite.

The H chondrites (ordinary chondrites relatively high in total iron) account for more than 30% of all meteorite falls and are the 2nd largest geochemically defined group. Forest City is the 4th most massive of the 171 witnessed falls listed exactly as an H5 with The Meteoritical Bulletin Database (Feb 2016).

The largest stone (35 cm x 35 cm. x 16 cm) has been in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. The Forest City meteorite has been widely distributed with large fairly amounts of material also held by the Field Museum of Natural History and by Yale University.

Mineral List

11 valid minerals.

Meteorite/Rock Types Recorded

References

External Links