Aguas Zarcas CM2 Meteorite
Find / Fall: Fall – April 23, 2019
Location: Alajuela, Costa Rica
Classification: CM2
Total Known Weight: 27kg
The Aguas Zarcas meteorite fall occurred on April 23, 2019, over Costa Rica. It was a major meteorite event with hundreds of stones created by the atmospheric disruption of the meteoroid. The residents of the area around the town of Aguas Zarcas found stones in their yards and fields immediately. Within hours professional meteorite hunters and dealers were on site recovering and obtaining specimens before they could be damaged by the rain. Many additional stones were recovered over the following weeks. No official total known weight for this fall has been determined as yet. Aguas Zarcas is a CM-2 carbonaceous chondrite. This is one of the most exciting meteorite types for science as they contain water and organic compounds left from the creation of the solar system. Aguas Zarcas has been classified also as an Anomalous CM-2 so it has some features that make it especially unusual.
Aguas Zarcas stones have a black matrix with Calcium Aluminum Inclusions (CAIs) and chondrules. The exterior of these meteorites will have a well-developed fusion crust and some of the fragments below will have fusion crust while others do not. This is the largest fall of CM-2 meteorites in recent history and the research on it will continue for years perhaps decades to come. This is a meteorite that truly should be in every meteorite collection.
