Kouga Mountains
A find, recorded in 1903 in South Africa · 1.2 tonnes recovered · Iron, IIIAB
Kouga Mountains ranks 43rd by recovered mass among the 30,841 meteorite finds with a complete record in NASA’s Meteorite Landings dataset (records to 2013). No other find recorded in South Africa is heavier; 24 finds there have complete records. Only three observed falls recovered more.
- Group
- Iron meteorites
- Recorded position
- 33.617° S, 24.000° E
Rings every 200 km.
Seen-to-fall neighbours
Wittekrantz, 155 km to the north-west, is the nearest meteorite that someone saw arrive (1880). In 1903, the year Kouga Mountains entered the record, eight meteorites were seen to fall: Jackalsfontein in South Africa, Uberaba in Brazil, St. Mark's in South Africa and five others.
| # | Fall | Year | Class | Recovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wittekrantz | 1880 | L5 | 2.2 kg | 155 km north-west |
| 2 | Jackalsfontein | 1903 | L6 | 48 kg | 232 km north-west |
| 3 | Molteno | 1953 | Howardite | 150 g | 350 km north-east |
| 4 | St. Mark's | 1903 | EH5 | 14 kg | 365 km north-east |
| 5 | Cold Bokkeveld | 1838 | CM2 | 5.2 kg | 432 km west |
Kouga Mountains among other finds
In the record, 256 finds carry the label Iron, IIIAB, against 10 observed falls. The closest fall of the same group (iron IIIAB) is Chisenga, 2,790 km away in Malawi, one of 11 such falls. Among the other giant finds, Gibeon lies closest: 1,072 km away. Worldwide, the finds just above and below it are Alkhamasin (1.2 tonnes) and Goose Lake (1.2 tonnes).
| Rank | Find | Class | Recorded | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kouga Mountains | Iron, IIIAB | 1903 | 1.2 tonnes |
| 2 | Rateldraai | Iron, IIIAB | 1909 | 549 kg |