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Met Name

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Thin Sections

2.8 grams.   H4

TKW 1200 grams. Fall not observed. Found Autumn 1938.


 

Mitch writes:

In the autumn of 1938, one specimen of approximately 1kg of Metsakyla meteorite was found by Kalle Kunnari in a field in the village of Metsakyla, Finland. He sent it to the Geological Survey of Finland, and they confirmed it was a meteorite. There are only 12 meteorites from Finland.

My specimen was part of the Walton meteorite collection. Wayne Walton was one of the first scientists to study samples from the first Apollo 11 lunar landing. At Ohio State University, he was intrigued by meteorites, and wrote his dissertation on them. He developed a passion for meteorites and started to collect them. Walton worked at NASA during his career. His collection was later sold by Bonham's auction house.

Although my 2.8 grams does not seem like much, according to Grady's Catalogue of Meteorites, the distribution of Metsakyla is as follows: main mass is held by the University of Helsinki, USNM (Smithsonian) holds a thin section, MPI, Mainz 2.7 grams, AMNH NY 2.4 grams, Bartoschewitz Colin, Gifhorn, Germany 13 grams, and GSC, Ottawa 8.6 grams. ASU catalogue lists Metsakyla ASU #1529 at 0.4 grams.

When compared to institutions holding a piece of Metsakyla, the main mass holder University of Helsinki, Bartoschewitz Colin, Giforn, Germany and GSC, Ottawa are the only ones that hold more of it than me. I feel very fortunate to have Metsakyla in my collection.