Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	27° 3' North , 105° 26' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	27.05000,-105.43333
GeoHash:	G#: 9sv1bu3c9
Locality type:	Meteorite Fall Location
Meteorite Class:	IIIAB iron meteorite
Meteoritical Society Class:	Iron, IIIAB
Metbull:	View entry in Meteoritical Bulletin Database
Köppen climate type:	BSh : Hot semi-arid (steppe) climate

Iron meteorite, Octahedrite (IIIAB, Om)
Find, 1600; 10.1 tons

After the arrival of the Spaniards in the New World persistent reports of various large meteoritic iron masses eventually led to the recovery of several unusually large iron meteorites— including the Morito Iron, a ancient landmark in the vicinity of Hildalgo del Parral. The largely intact main mass — described by Buchwald (1975) as a 'beautiful conical monster' — is now on display in Mexico City, but a few pieces and fragments have been analyzed. The exterior displays fusion crust, troilite pits, and oxidized areas, but the interior is predominantly kamacite and taenite accompanied by plessite plus a few very minor accessories minerals. Various features indicate of preterrestrial shocks and deformation. Schreibersite is common as boundary precipitates and tiny rhabdites. Troilite is present as scattered nodules with twinned portions indicating plastic deformation. Exsolved Daubréelite accounts for ~10 vol% of the sulfide. Weatherates are common in some regions, particularly in surface pits and near surface veins.

As of late 2014, the IIIAB iron meteorites represent nearly 30% of all classified iron meteorites. Of these meteorites Morito is both the first recorded in (Western) scientific circles and the fourth most massive. The main mass is preserved at the School of Mines, Mexico City. However, a few specimens have been cut from it and listed under such names as Durango, Chihuahua, and Parral.

Mineral List

7 valid minerals.

Meteorite/Rock Types Recorded

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Neogene 2.588 - 23.03 Ma ID: 2433837	Age: Neogene (2.588 - 23.03 Ma) Lithology: Conglomerate Reference: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática. Conjunto de Datos Vectoriales Geológicos. Continuo Nacional. Escala 1:1’000,000. [63]
Early Cretaceous 100.5 - 145 Ma ID: 3186170	Mesozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Early Cretaceous (100.5 - 145 Ma) Lithology: Carbonate,shale Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References

External Links