Wabar Impactite

A rare sand impact site in a now inaccessible region of the Saudi Arabian desert, the Wabar crater field is one of the most elusive and mysterious impact sites on Earth. The world’s only known sand crater of significant size, the Wabar crater field was produced when a IIIAB iron meteorite weighing many tons impacted the Earth. It’s possible this event occurred in 1863, though some estimates state it could have happened thousands of years earlier.

The heat and pressure generated by the impact formed a diverse and remarkable collection of Wabar Impactites, including exquisite black glass spheres known as Wabar Pearls. These also include pieces of the strange Wabar Oxidized Iron, a weathered iron meteorite fragment, and the Wabar Iron in its unaltered state!

The Wabar crater is one of about fifteen craters on Earth from which we have recovered meteorite fragments. An interesting anecdote about the site was reported to our colleagues — some of the iron fragments from Wabar appear “popped.” This phenomenon is thought to be caused by high temperatures and pressures at impact, causing the iron to oxidize rapidly and give the Wabar Oxidized Irons the classic “weathered” appearance, which typically indicates they have been on Earth a substantial amount of time. This was the first time we had heard of this anomaly; if you have further knowledge about the topic, we invite you to let us know. What we want to know is this: how is it we see well-preserved irons and weathered irons at the same impact site? Puzzling!

The site is infamously inaccessible and has only been visited a few times in history. Average temperatures in summer can reach a blistering 140°F (60°C). Shifting sands in the region have filled in the craters in over time and they are now nearly obliterated. First discovered in 1932, differing reports place the number of craters between three and five.

Political events in the Middle East have also made the area extremely dangerous and we have been advised by local experts that it is now impossible to reach. As such, we are extremely fortunate to be able to offer this rare and beautiful material.