Stony Iron meteorite, transitional pallasite - PAL, Magadan District, Siberia, Russia
Representing less than 0.2% of all known meteorites, pallasites are the most beautiful extraterrestrial substance known. Like all pallasites, Seymchan formed at the boundary of the stony mantle and molten iron core of an asteroid that was obliterated following a collision with another asteroid. The crystals of olivine and peridot(gem-quality olivine and the birthstone of August) are the result of chunks of the stony mantle becoming encircled by the metal of the asteroid’s metallic core. The materials then cooled and crystallized. The prominent metallic latticework seen is referred to as a Widmanstätten pattern. It is evidence of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time — millions of years — for two metallic alloys to orient into their crystalline structure.
This slab contains a thick edge of the meteorite’s natural exterior surface and four cut surfaces revealing its otherworldly metallic lattice. An inclusion of chromite is in evidence along with schreibersite, which many researchers believe was the primary source of phosphorus to enable life, which was delivered to Earth via meteorites billions of years ago. From the core of an asteroid and older than Earth itself, this engaging specimen which fits in a child’s palm has it all.
45 x 65 x 14mm (1.75 x 2.5 x 0.5 in.) and 195.7 grams (0.4 lbs).
