L chondrite
L chondrites are ordinary chondrites with a lower iron and metal content than H chondrites.
The L chondrites are the low-iron group of ordinary chondrites. They contain less iron-nickel metal than H chondrites, and their olivine is richer in iron, with a fayalite content of roughly Fa23 to Fa26. They are among the most frequently seen falls of any meteorite group.
A striking feature of many L chondrites is heavy shock, the damage done by violent collisions. Many show dark veins of melted rock and argon gas ages of roughly 470 million years, suggesting that their parent asteroid was shattered then. Fossil meteorites from that time, found in limestone quarries in Sweden, are also L chondrite material, which suggests that the breakup showered the early Earth with debris. Famous L chondrites include L'Aigle, the 1803 French fall that helped prove meteorites come from space, and Holbrook, which rained thousands of stones on Arizona in 1912. Both are type L6.
L chondrites look much like H chondrites but feel slightly less heavy and are somewhat less magnetic. On a cut face, metal flecks are fewer. Mineral analysis is needed to tell the groups apart reliably.
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