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Campo del Cielo
Campo del Cielo is one of the earliest historical finds. First mentioned by Hernan Mexia de Miraval and later on, in 1783, by Don Rubin de Celis, there was a mighty iron mass of 15t, which the locals referred to as "Field of Heaven" (in Spanish: Campo del Cielo). - So maybe they were well aware of its cosmic origins? At the site of the find there is a field of 122 pits and craters, the largest of which measures 70m across and is 5m deep. Over the last two centuries, numerous masses, sometimes weighing several tons, were recovered, so that the total weight is estimated at 30-50t, which confers on Campo del Cielo the rank of third largest meteorite around, after Hoba and Cape York. Which means it shouldn't be lacking in any collection! Despite its impressive Total Known Weight, Campo del Cielo isn't offered that often. This piece isn't exactly a beauty, but it will make good cutting material, for the rust is only superficial. (If, on cutting, corrosion should be found to go deeper, I will of course take the meteorite back.) 0.30$/g. Rough specimen ca. 12.5cm x 10cm x 6cm 2454g $736.20 Cañon Diablo
The
irons of Cañon Diablo are found in a range of 15km around the famous Meteor or
Barringer Crater in Arizona. The Meteor Crater is arguably the most spectacular
and impressive impact crater on earth. It is comparatively young, according to
recent indications some 50 000 years, and only little eroded, thanks to the
favourable geological and climatic conditions. It has a diameter of 1186m, its
depth being 170m. Even though it plays a prominent rôle in the myths of the
local indigenous population, it wasn't mentioned by white folk until 1871, and
it was only around the turn of the century that a post master, by the name of
G.K.Gilbert, started considering it of meteoritical origin. The estimates as to
the impact meteorite vary, depending on Diameter of the meteorite 25-30m, impact energy 4,5-17,5 megatons TNT. 11,5t of the original mass are in meteorite collections (Buchwald), the total finds are estimated at 30t (Nininger). Today the crater is private property, and meteorite search forbidden. Still, Cañon Diablo remains available everywhere, and as it stems from the famous crater, it is highly coveted, especially by beginning collectors or those who desire to own but one meteorite. This specimen has a pleasant form and is moderately weathered (it has a natural rusty hole on the lower side). 0.40$/g. Individualca. 8.2cm x 7cm x 3.5cm 401g 
Sold
Chinga
Ataxites show a very high nickel content - Chinga 16.38%. The beam width of the kamacite lamellae decreases with the increase of nickel content in the total metal, and above about 15% Ni content, they disappear altogether, so that there is no more Widmanstätten pattern present (gr. a taxis = without order). In 1913, in the Chinga River, several masses of this ataxite were found, with a total known weight of more than 80kg. For the most part they are heavily rusted and have the torn appearance characteristic of those of Henbury. Ataxites are very rare among iron meteorites and therefore the mind boggles at seeing them offered so cheaply. 1.50/g. Thick
fullslice with one polished side Gibeon
The earliest tidings of the meteorites of Gibeon were referred in 1838 by the English army captain and explorer Sir James E. Alexander, who sent a small piece to Sir John Herschel, the director of the Cape Observatory. In 1856, at the Lion River, and in 1899 near Bethany, the next specimens were discovered, and soon the Gibeon meteorites, usually under the denomination "Iron of Mukerop", found their way into museums all over the world. In 1911, Paul Range, at the behest of the Imperial Governor in Windhoek, set out to search and buy up all masses. In total, he collected 37 specimens, weighing 12,5t. Some of these can be visited in the "Alte Feste" at Windhoek up to this day. Furthermore, there are 31 pieces placed in Poststraße, to the end and purpose of bestowing upon the locals the occasion of disrespectfully rubbing their buttocks against them (cf. photograph).
The
Gibeon strewnfield, with its 390x120km², is the largest in the
At present, I have two specimens on offer: G1 is an etched piece, the back shows the natural surface. It bears a few rust traces, so that, if one should take offence at these, it could be sanded and etched again some day or other; for which one would have to invest some $30 to $40. That's why I am offering it at a reduced price - for etched Gibeons usually cost 1$/g, due to the cut loss of about 25% and the time-intensive treatment. 0.40$/g. G2
is an individual, of very beautiful, natural shape, like a modern G1
Endcut, etched G2
Individual
Henbury
At
some 130km to the Southwest of Alice Springs lies the crater field of Henbury,
which was recognised as meteoritic as early as in the 1930ies. 13 impact and
explosion craters with diameters ranging between 160m and 6m and depths of up to
15m are grouped together in a classic scattering ellipse of 700m length. The
Henbury craters, with their age of 4700 years, rank among the most recent known
impact structures. In their surroundings pretty breccias a Individual
Morasko
Morasko has a sad find history: In 1914, after the outbreak of WW1, soldiers, while digging trenches 10km to the North of Poznan, unearthed an iron lump of 77.5kg. Over the following decades further pieces were discovered from time to time, but it wasn't before the late 1950ies that it was thought upon that the ponds and pits next to the find locations might be of meteoritic rather than of ice-age origin. The crater field consists of 8 craters, some of which are full of water, their diameters range between 5m and 110m; further impact holes were probably ploughed under. The fall of the meteorite will have occurred some 10 000 years ago. In
general, the number of iron meteorites found in Europe and Asia, lies below
average. ca. 4.3cm x 2.5cm x 0.6cm 42.94g $
Mundrabilla
Between
1911 and 1918 the first three pieces were discovered, but the two main masses,
two fragments that fit together, weren't until 1966. Apparently the weight of
these masses has so far been estimated only, for the references given range
between 10t to 16t for the larger and 4t to 6.1t for the smaller one. The larger
fragment is in Perth, the smaller one was taken to Heidelberg, sliced up and
distributed. In 1979, another two pieces were found, weighing 1.6t altogether.
A 275kg slice of Mundrabilla is a chief showpiece in the permane MB1
Individual MB2
Fullslice, etched
Odessa (iron)
The irons of Odessa are associated with a field of four craters. The main crater with a diameter of 165m and a depth of 5m is a typical explosion crater and was recognized as meteoritic back in 1929. At the crater rim and in the surroundings, many small iron pieces were found, about 1t have been collected so far, as well as loads and loads of iron shale. The age of the crater field is 50 000 years. The individual offered stems from the Zeitschel Collection. 0.60$/g. Individualca. 4cm x 3.2cm x 1.8cm 67g Sikhote-Alin
Sikhote-Alin is the most tremendous fall of an iron meteorite ever to have been watched. A glaring ball of fire, as bright as the sun and trailing dark clouds of smoke behind it, was travelling over Eastern Siberia on February 12th, 1947. The impact had the Taiga tremble, window panes were blown out by the air pressure. Fortunately the shower descended upon a scarcely populated area and the strewnfield, at 1 x 2.1km², was comparatively small, so that no one was hurt. More than 8500 fragments, the largest weighing 1.7t, and with a total weight of 23t, were collected until 1975. Among these fragments both shrapnel-like, torn iron pieces and intact meteorites with marvellous remaglypts and a blueish-black fusion crust were found; thanks to the latter Sikhote-Alin has been given the title "The Queen of Irons". From the differing outward appearances of the meteorites and the position and size of the 106 craters and holes - the largest is 28m across and 6m deep - it was possible, for the first time, to reconstruct the various stages of the explosion and fragmentation of a meteoride during its transition through the atmosphere. The shrapnel piece offered stems from the large explosion craters of the front part of the strewnellipse, from the so-called 4th fragmentation. This metal scrap gives a drastic impression of the immense force with which the larger fragment must have been torn to pieces even on impact. Shrapnel pieces are the cheapest material one can get from Sikhote-Alin, still such a specimen should be present in every collection, especially as the Sikhote-Alins are sharp-edged and little weathered, as opposed to, say, the scraps of Chinga and Henbury. 0.45$/g. Shrapnel-piececa. 7.8cm x 6cm x 3cm 320g $ |
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