1854 - The Madoc Meteorite
/One of the largest and heaviest meteorites ever found in Canada was discovered in 1854 near Madoc. The exact location of its find is unknown, as is its finder, but it is known to have landed in the southwest corner of Madoc Township, just west of the town. When discovered, the Madoc Meteorite weighed 167.8 kilograms. As the result of fragments being sliced off for research purposes, the meteorite today weighs 156 kilograms. The only larger meteorites found in Canada were at Bruderheim, Alberta, (303 kilograms) and Iron Creek, Alberta. (175 kilograms). The Madoc Meteorite was acquired by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1855 and immediately went on tour to an exposition in Paris, France. It was the first meteorite acquired for the national meteorite collection.
The Geological Survey of Canada office in Ottawa is the main home of the Madoc Meteorite. However, it periodically goes travelling and has been on display at the Planétarium de Montréal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Canadian Museum of Nature.The iron meteorite is thought to have spent a long time on the ground before discovery because it is covered with a film of oxidation and the first few centimetres below its surface have been altered by the earth’s atmosphere. The largest meteorite ever found weighs about 60 metric tonnes and fell at Hoba West, a farm near Grootfontein, Namibia.
