description Estherville Overview
Estherville is a mesosiderite meteorite that fell in Emmet County, Iowa, in 1879, producing a witnessed shower and a recovered mass of roughly 320 kilograms. Mesosiderites are stony-iron meteorites composed of metal mixed with fragmented silicate rocks, including material resembling differentiated asteroid crust. Estherville's substantial recovered material has made it a useful specimen for investigating how impacts disrupted and recombined metallic and rocky components within an asteroid parent body.
insights Ranking position
Estherville ranks #46 of 213 in the Meteorite ranking, behind Kapoeta, ahead of Alais.
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What makes Estherville a mesosiderite rather than an iron meteorite?
Estherville contains abundant nickel-iron metal mixed with broken silicate rock. That metal-and-rock breccia is characteristic of mesosiderites, a relatively uncommon class of stony-iron meteorites.
When and where did the Estherville meteorite fall?
The witnessed fall occurred in Emmet County, Iowa, in 1879. Multiple fragments were recovered from the shower rather than a single intact stone.
How much Estherville meteorite material was recovered?
The reported total recovered mass is roughly 320 kilograms. The substantial amount of material made Estherville one of the better represented mesosiderites in museum and research collections.
How could metal and basaltic rock become mixed inside Estherville?
Mesosiderites are generally interpreted as products of violent collisions on a differentiated asteroid. Impacts mixed molten or fragmented core-like metal with crustal silicates, including basaltic material resembling eucrites.
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