Long Island meteorite, Phillips County, Kansas, USAi

Regional Level Types
Long Island meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
Phillips County	County
Kansas	State
USA	Country

Ordinary chondrite, veined (L6; S4)
Find, 1891; 564 kg

Approximately 5 km west of Long Island near the Kansas-Nebraska border, a large and rather weathered meteoritic stone lay on a slope of ordinary soil in upland prairie underlain by limestone which forms occasional outcrops. The main portions of the meteorite were partially buried and had broken into 4 large pieces (269 kg and smaller) upon impact and could be placed back together. Another 2900 much smaller fragments were eventually recovered within a ~2 m x 7 m area. The stone had been known by locals and a few small pieces had been carried away from time to time. At the time it was recognized it was the largest meteoritic stone to have been recovered. Today it is still listed as the most massive of nearly 10,000 recovered L6 ordinary chondrites — with the 550 kg Jiddat al Harasis 07 mass a very close second. When found the meteorite still retained some of its original fusion crust and it original conical form, accompanied by pittings which radiated from the conical apex. As expected for ordinary chondrites, olivine and pyroxene, accompanied by Fe-Ni metal and troilite, are the meteorite's primary mineralogical constituents. However, the complex interplay of shock features complicated by weathering processes has provided observers with some intriguing textural problematics.


The main mass (~500 kg) was obtained by the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago). A smaller mass of ~ 50 kg was obtained by the American Museum of Natural History (New York) with several much smaller masses distributed elsewhere.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References