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Stone Meteorites
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Stone Meteorites are the most diverse group of meteorites and are the most common meteorite to enter the atmosphere yet they are rarely found as they are hard to distinguish from native rocks and often decompose or shatter on impact making them hard to identify after a few thousand years.
There are two main groups of stone meteorites, the Chondrites and the Achondrites. Chondrules is derived from the Greek word for seed and represents the small nodules of silicates that are found in these meteorites. The nodules may vary from microscopic to 20mm or more and make a rock similar to our conglomerates. Achondrites are stone without the presence of these nodules. Chondrites are estimated to have been formed in the beginnings of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. Both forms of meteorites may also contain some amounts of iron. Achondrites may sometimes resemble Chondrites but the nodules have occurred due to crystallization of minerals on cooling rather than through the collection of small fragments that fuse together to form a Chondrite.
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