Carbonaceous Chondrites


The average Carbonaceous Chondrite contains:

ELEMENT     % by Weight
-----------------------
Carbon          2.0
Metals          1.8
Nitrogen        0.2
Silicates      83.0
Water          11.0

At most, they can be 20% water and can contain as much as 4% carbon. The other elements will vary as well. In addition to water, Carbonaceous Chondrites contain around 5% kerogen. Kerogen contains:

ELEMENT     % by Weight
-----------------------
Carbon          77.5
Hydrogen         7.5
Nitrogen         1.5
Oxygen          12.0
Sulfur           1.5

Carbonaceous Chondrites make up 50% of the asteroids at the inner edge of the Belt, and 95% at the outer edge. Unfortunately, these are rather far from Earth.


See closer asteroids

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