Seymchan | |
---|---|
Type | Stony-iron |
Structural classification | Coarse octahedrite |
Class | Pallasite |
Group | Main Group Pallasite |
Composition | 9.15% Ni, 24.6 ppm Ga, 68.3 ppm Ge, 0.55 ppm Ir. |
Country | Russia |
Region | Magadan Oblast |
Coordinates | 62°54′N152°26′E / 62.900°N 152.433°E [1] |
Observed fall | No |
Found date | June 1967 |
TKW | several tons |
An olivine-free portion of Seymchan | |
Related media on Wikimedia Commons |
Seymchan is a pallasite meteorite found in the dry bed of the river Hekandue, a left tributary of river Yasachnaya in the Magadan district, Russia, near the settlement of Seymchan, in June 1967.
The main mass of 272.3 kilograms (600 lb) was found during a survey in June 1967 by geologist F. A. Mednikov. The mass was a triangular-shaped thumbprinted meteorite lying among the stones of the brook bed. A second specimen of 51 kilograms (112 lb) was found with a mine detector at a distance of 20 m from the first in October 1967 by I. H. Markov. The main mass was turned over to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
During a new expedition in 2004, Dmitri Kachalin recovered about 50 kilograms (110 lb) of new material. Remarkably, about 20% of the new specimens were found to contain olivine crystals, [2] and so revealed the silicated nature of the meteorite. The pallasitic structure was not previously discovered during studies on small metal-only sections of the original mass.
Many more fragments were later found, the largest of which weighs approximately 1.5 tons. It is currently on display in the Urania Hall of the Moscow Planetarium. [3]
Seymchan belongs to Main Group pallasites, but it is considered anomalous due to its high iridium content. [4] Before the discovery of its pallasitic structure it had been classified as IIE anomalous coarse octahedrite. Seymchan is considered a stable and rust-resistant pallasite.
Due to the heterogeneous structure of Seymchan, there are two types of specimens: with or without olivine crystals. It is worthy to note that the specimen pictured to the left shows an interesting, seldom seen feature of iron meteorites. The Widmanstätten pattern on the left hand side of the specimen is visibly bent. This is caused by the shearing of the meteorite as it broke up during atmospheric entry and serves as testimony of the violent experience a meteor is subject to as it falls through the atmosphere.
Peridot, sometimes called chrysolite, is a yellow-green transparent variety of olivine. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color.
In southeastern Russia, an iron meteorite fell on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in 1947. Large iron meteorite falls have been witnessed, and fragments have been recovered, but never before in recorded history has a fall of this magnitude occurred. An estimated 23 tonnes of fragments survived the fiery passage through the atmosphere and reached the Earth.
The pallasites are a class of stony–iron meteorite. They are relatively rare, and can be distinguished by the presence of large olivine crystal inclusions in the ferro-nickel matrix.
Imilac is a pallasite meteorite found in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile in 1822.
Iron meteorites, also called siderites or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron meteorites originate from cores of planetesimals, with the exception of the IIE iron meteorite group.
The Fukang meteorite is a meteorite that was found in the mountains near Fukang, China in 2000. It is a pallasite—a type of stony–iron meteorite with olivine crystals. It is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old.
Brahin is a meteorite pallasite found in 1810. This is the second meteorite ever found in Russia . Sometimes it is also called Bragin or Bragim. It is quite common among collectors due to the affordable price of small partial slices.
Esquel is a meteorite found near Esquel, a Patagonian town in the northwest part of the province of Chubut in Argentina. It is a pallasite, a type of stony–iron meteorite that when cut and polished shows yellowish olivine (peridot) crystals.
Brenham is a pallasite meteorite found near Haviland, a small town in Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. Pallasites are a type of stony–iron meteorite that when cut and polished show yellowish olivine (peridot) crystals.
Krasnojarsk was the first pallasite meteorite ever found.
Huckitta is a pallasite meteorite recovered in 1937 from Huckitta Cattle Station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Omolon is a meteorite fallen in 1981 in the Omolon River basin, Magadan (Russia). It is a pallasite.
Pultusk is an H5 ordinary chondrite meteorite which fell on 30 January 1868 in Poland. The event has been known as the stony meteorite shower with the largest number of pieces yet recorded in history. Made up of rocky debris, it consists of pyroxene or olivine chondrules deployed in mass plagioclase, there being also kamacite.
Park Forest is an L5 chondrite meteorite that fell on 26 March 2003 in Illinois, United States.
Pallasovka is a pallasite meteorite found in 1990 near the town of Pallasovka, Russia.
The Yardymly meteorite is an iron meteorite that fell in Yardymli Rayon, Azerbaijan on November 24, 1959. The remains were discovered in the nearby village of Aroos. With five individual specimens, the total weight of the meteorite is estimated at 150.29 kilograms (331.3 lb). The meteorite is kept in the Institute of Geology of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. According to the director of Şamaxı Astrophysical Observatory Eyub Guliyev, the Yardymli meteorite may originate from the shower of Perseids.
The Springwater meteorite is a stony-iron pallasite, found near Springwater, Saskatchewan in 1931. At that time the find consisted of three large masses (38.6 kilograms, 18.6 kilograms and 10.6 kilograms. Other fragments have been found recently, including a 53 kilograms individual in 2009 that is now in the Royal Ontario Museum.
The Chinga meteorite is an iron meteorite. It is structurally an ataxite with very rare kamacite lamella. The meteoric iron is a part of the lamella taenite. The total chemical composition is 82.8% iron, 16.6% nickel, and the rest mostly cobalt and phosphorus.
The Eagle Station group is a set of pallasite meteorite specimen that do not fit into any of the other defined pallasite groups. In meteorite classification five meteorites have to be found, so they can be defined as their own group. Currently only five Eagle Station type meteorites have been found, which is just enough for a separate group.