Sterlitamak
Seen to fall in 1990 in Russia · 325 kg recovered · Iron, IIIAB
Sterlitamak has the 12th-largest recovered mass of the 1,063 observed falls in NASA’s Meteorite Landings dataset (records to 2013). It is the third-heaviest of the 48 falls recorded in Russia.
- Group
- Iron meteorites
- Recorded position
- 53.667° N, 55.983° E
The map is centred on Sterlitamak. Rings every 200 km; numbers match the table below.
Nearest recorded falls
The closest recorded fall to Sterlitamak is Krasnyi Klyuch, 74 km to the north. Within 250 km lie two other recorded falls.
| # | Fall | Year | Class | Recovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Krasnyi Klyuch | 1946 | H5 | 4 kg | 74 km north |
| 2 | Boriskino | 1930 | CM2 | 1.3 kg | 238 km west |
| 3 | Kainsaz | 1937 | CO3.2 | 200 kg | 264 km north-west |
| 4 | Brient | 1933 | Eucrite-pmict | 219 g | 281 km south-east |
| 5 | Lavrentievka | 1938 | L6 | 800 g | 325 km south-west |
| 6 | Chelyabinsk | 2013 | LL5 | 100 kg | 357 km north-east |
What Iron, IIIAB means
Iron, IIIAB is the label for an iron meteorite of chemical group IIIAB, defined by its nickel and trace-element content. Sterlitamak is the most recent of the 10 Iron, IIIAB falls. Sterlitamak is one of 48 iron meteorites among the observed falls. Sterlitamak carries about 22 times the median recovered mass of Iron, IIIAB falls. The nearest other Iron, IIIAB fall is Kayakent in Turkey, 2,428 km away. In date order among Iron, IIIAB falls, the one before Sterlitamak is Chisenga (1988, Malawi).
Sterlitamak in Russia’s record
In date order Sterlitamak is number 47 of the 48 falls recorded in Russia, which run from 1805 to 2013. The fall recorded before Sterlitamak in Russia is Undulung (1986); the next is Chelyabinsk (2013).
The 1990s
Sterlitamak is one of 54 falls dated to the 1990s. Elsewhere, the record lists six other falls in 1990, among them Quija in China, Itqiy in Morocco, Yanzhuang in China.