Meteorite contains 90% iron: GSI

Jaipur, Sep 4 (UNI) The meteorite fall in Kanvarpura village in Chittorgarh district on August 29 has created great interest in the international community with experiments on in 16 countries.

Dr R S Goyal, Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India (GSI), said here today that the meteorite had metallic lustre.

He said the chemical analysis of the meteorite showed it had 90 per cent iron and 8.5 per cent nickel with traces of other elements.

However, he said the meteorite fall was not as spectacular an event as compared to the meteorite shower in Gujarat's Jamnagar, Kutch and Rajkot on July 31, 2006. The meteorite fell during the day. However, shepherds had reportedly dragged it with rods before immersing it in a water body.

The meteorite weighing 6.8 kg had been sent to GSI's Kolkata centre for further analysis.

Mr Goyal said most meteorites are either reduced to ashes or almost burn by the time they fall on earth. Hence, it becomes difficult for geologists to get hold of a solid meteorite.

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