Nelson County
Iron, Octahedrite, Medium, IIIF,
Found 1856, Kentucky
Although this is not part of our educational collection, I was lucky to receive this photograph. What an amazing meteorite.
As to the deformation that you can see here, that is still being studied.
© New England Meteoritical Services. 1553 gram slice of Nelson County
For its fascinating history, go here:
http://meteoritemag.uark.edu/622.htm
To visit with Russell W. Kempton, who wrote the article, took the picture, and cut the iron, go here:
http://meteorlab.com
Side Trip: IIIF
This small group of meteorites has just eight members. Most IIIF irons are medium to fine octahedrites with a relatively low nickel content. However, with their elemental compositions, they display high values for chromium, and low values for germanium, cobalt, and phosphorus. Consequently, IIIF irons rarely contain inclusions of phosphides (e.g. schreibersite) or troilite.
The data suggest that IIIF irons formed in the core of a small, differentiated asteroid. |
