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  H5

TKW 5.14 kg. Observed fall 1 January 1998, San Martin, Peru.

 

Gabriel writes:

I'd like to submit the pictures of the Tocache meteorite to the MPOD, first for those who haven't seen the images in the MetBull, second because one of the pictures wasn't accept for them: the shatter cone picture.

When we received the meteorite for classification, I noticed this structure in one side of the meteorite fragment. I personally showed the structure to Prof. Álvaro Crósta, the researcher responsible for the study and identification most (if not, all) Brazilian craters and he agreed with me that it seems to be a shatter cone (and not slickenlines). Hopefully this image will give the chance for people to give their opinions and enrich the discussion. I'm sending all the description information I submitted to MetBul.

From the MetBul:

History: The meteorite fall was witnessed by Mr. Leodegario Tolentino Laiza and Mrs. Horacia Padilla Herrera in the Tocache District, Tocache Province, San Martín Department, Peru. According to the witnesses, the fall occurred between midnight and two in the morning of January 1, 1998. A fireball was observed in the sky and, within ", it exploded. Soon after, a humming sound, like a small plane, was heard and then two impacts on the ground were felt. In the following week, Mr. Leodegario found the 5140 g fragment on his coffee plantation, in a small crater 1 m deep by 50-80 cm in diameter in the clay soil. According to him, the meteorite had a smell that resembled something burned and with sulfur. The meteorite was kept in a shed of the property, being exposed to the high humidity of the region that is part of the Peruvian Amazon. In 2017, the fragment was acquired from the couple’s son, Mr. Willy Tolentino Padilla, by the Quimiosfera Laboratory at the Chemistry Institute of the University of São Paulo (USP) for study and classification.

Physical characteristics: The only fragment of the fall was acquired by the laboratory and weighed 5110 g, in addition to 30 g of fragments that were previously broken and sent by the owner. Thus, the final mass added up to 5140 g. The fragment was covered in about 80% of a dark-reddish fusion crust with different ° of oxidation. The exposed inner parts also have several rust colored spots of oxidized metal flakes. The fragment measured about 22 × 13 × 13 cm before the cut. One of the sides shows slight signs of orientation and, in one of the exposed inner parts, the meteorite shows a feature positively identified as a shatter cone. The conical and striated structure has 3 × 4 cm and was partially damaged by the action of the former owner during the removal of the 30 g of fragments that were first sent to the laboratory.