Sikhote-Alin

Part of Hall of Meteorites.

Mounted in the Museum’s Hall of Meteorites, the Sikhote-Alin meteorite which fell in Russia in 1947. It has a bumpy pitted surface.
D.1.1.2. Illustration Sikhote-Alin Impact Site.jpg
cross section of two craters, one deep with big pieces of meteorite in the bottom of it and a wider one with smaller pieces of meteorite.
As geologists searched for meteorites by digging beneath craters at Sikhote-Alin, they noticed something peculiar. Many fairly large meteorite samples were buried at the bottom of small craters measuring no more than two meters (6.5 feet) across. Larger craters, on the other hand, usually contained many very small meteorite fragments.But the researchers knew that larger impacting meteorites must have made the larger craters. These meteorites apparently landed with so much kinetic energy that they shattered into tiny fragments. Smaller impactors were less likely to break apart because they hit with less energy.
©AMNH
D.1.2.3. Sikhote-Alin stamps.jpg
© AMNH/D. Finnin
D.1.2.2. sikhotte-alin_crater.jpg
D.1.1.1. Sikhote-Alin