The Field of Heaven: Argentina's massive, ancient iron meteorite impact site

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Deep in the Argentine provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero lies a crater field spanning over 18 kilometers. Known as Campo del Cielo, this site contains the largest collection of recovered meteorite fragments on Earth, totaling over 100 tonnes of iron-nickel remnants from a cosmic event millennia ago.

The Campo del Cielo crater field, which translates to Field of Heaven, was long known to indigenous peoples before its formal report in 1576. Early Spanish explorers sought the site after hearing legends of iron falling from the sky, which natives utilized for weaponry. Despite these accounts, the origin of the massive iron masses remained a subject of confusion for centuries. In 1783, explorer Rubin de Celis famously dismissed the site as a volcanic formation, failing to recognize the extraterrestrial nature of the iron deposits he encountered.

Scientific analysis eventually confirmed the meteoritic origin of these fragments, which are composed of approximately 92.6% iron and 6.67% nickel. Carbon-14 dating of charred wood found beneath the debris suggests the impact occurred between 4,200 and 4,700 years ago. The original body, estimated to be over 4 meters in diameter, likely disintegrated upon entering the atmosphere, scattering at least 26 craters across an area measuring 18.5 by 3 kilometers. The presence of high-density inclusions within the iron may have caused the body to shatter upon impact.

Today, the site is home to some of the heaviest single-piece meteorites ever recovered. The Gancedo meteorite, unearthed in 2016, weighs 30.8 tonnes, surpassing the 28.8-tonne El Chaco fragment. These massive pieces have faced threats from illicit collectors, including a 1990 attempt to steal El Chaco and a 2015 smuggling operation. Now protected by provincial law, the site serves as a vital record of the Solar System's early development, with the fragments themselves estimated to be 4.5 billion years old.

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