Discovered in 1861 in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Classified as a mesosiderite, Vaca Muerta is a differentiated silicate and metal rich meteorite containing many silicate and eucrite inclusions. For this meteorite to show such a varied and disrupted character, the Vaca Muerta parent body must have been impacted countless times by different types of material to break up, mix, and fuse the various constituent pieces as displayed in the image below.

Vaca Muerta is a very unusual meteorite and one of the more common stony-irons, making it available to many collections.

Back to Mesosiderite Description

Back to Stony-Iron Meteorite Photos

Back to Meteorite Photo Gallery