Nininger Spheroids
Nininger Spheroids are tiny nickel iron spheroids that formed when the cloud of vaporized metal from the asteroid impact condensed and fell as a rain of tiny metallic droplets upon the area around Meteor Crater, Arizona. The spheroids are also know as Canyon Diablo Metallic Spheroids.
Dr. Harvey H. Nininger is often referred to as the Father of Modern Meteoritics. He studied Meteor Crater in Arizona for several decades and had his famous Meteorite Museum on Route 66 very near to Meteor Crater.
During his investigations of the crater and its formation, Dr. Nininger desired to prove the Moulton vaporization theory for what happened to the great mass of the impacting asteroid. He collected hundreds of soil samples from all areas around the crater during the several decades of his research on Meteor Crater. In those samples he found several kinds of particles that were meteoritic in origin. Among these were the nickel enriched spheroids. Spheroids that he personally collected are know as Nininger Spheroids.
Nininger Spheroids For Sale
-
Nininger Spheroids
Original price was: $19.95.$14.96Current price is: $14.96.Save $4.99 (25% off)
Add to cart
The spheroids are small, brown, and lumpy but tend toward a spherical shape. They are enriched in nickel content to several times the amount found in the actual iron meteorites themselves. The ones found by Dr. Nininger in the soil around Meteor Crater represent those which have a high enough nickel concentration to survive weathering oxidation for 50,000 years since their formation.
Dr. Nininger estimated that there were between 4,000 and 8,000 tons of the tiny metallic spheroids still in the top four inches of the soil within five miles of the crater.