Iron meteorites analyzed in this study have nitrogen concentrations le
ss-than-or-equal-to 70 mug/g and deltaN-15 from -90 to +150 parts per
thousand. Although the iron meteorites have a large range of deltaN-15
. most have values more negative than -50 parts per thousand. The nitr
ogen isotopic compositions were established by cosmochemical processes
and were little modified by fractional crystallization or other chemi
cal processes within the parent bodies. The data do not suggest the ex
istence of a well-mixed solar nebular reservoir for nitrogen, as was a
lready inferred from data from stony meteorites. The range of > 1100 p
arts per thousand observed for deltaN-15 in bulk meteorites is probabl
y too large to be accounted for by physical and chemical mass-dependen
t fractionation processes in the solar nebula, and thus reflects nebul
ar inhomogeneities of nucleosynthetic origin. Nitrogen isotopes may se
rve as fingerprints for different reservoirs, preserved in various par
ent bodies, in a manner similar to that observed for oxygen isotopes i
n stony meteorites, and oxygen-bearing phases of stony irons.