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1889 grams.   Iron, IIAB

TKW 23 MT. Observed fall February 12, 1947.


 

Herbert writes:

70 years ago on this day, the largest shower of iron meteorites in recorded history hit the Earth in the Sikhote-Alin mountains in eastern Siberia. Specimens from the Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite fall are very popular among collectors, and for many, Sikhote-Alin is the undisputed queen of iron meteorites.

The specimen shown here has a mass of 1889 grams. It is a fresh, uncleaned specimen of transitional type, showing characteristics both of an individual meteorite and a shrapnel fragment: It boasts the characteristic gray fusion crust and well-developed regmaglypts of an individual, as well as some surfaces where the specimen has been disrupted upon impact on the Earth. Some of these surfaces reveal the crystalline structure of this octahedrite, indicating that the meteorite broke apart along the crystal boundaries. The fusion crust shows delicate flight markings, like flow lines and lipping, in some places.