Stony Iron meteorite, transitional pallasite - PAL, Magadan District, Siberia, Russia
While Seymchan is classified as a pallasite, unlike the vast majority of other pallasitic meteorites, the dispersion of olivine crystals in Seymchan is extremely heterogeneous. Some specimens of Seymchan are olivine rich and some are olivine poor; some specimens have no olivine whatsoever. The spearpoint now offered is an example of the latter. The meteorite from which this spearpoint was fabricated originated from the iron-nickel core of an asteroid that once existed between Mars and Jupiter. For this sample to have been liberated from the surrounding mantle and crust, this planetary body had to have broken apart, most probably following a collision with another asteroid. This specimen originates from a meteorite that was part of a massive meteorite shower that occurred in the Magadan District of Siberia, the locality of Stalin’s infamous gulags. A prominent Widmanstätten pattern in evidence; this latticework is indicative of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time — millions of years — for the molecules of the two most dominant metallic alloys to form the intricate intergrowth now seen. This pattern is diagnostic in the identification of an iron meteorite and meteorites from different parent bodies exhibit different patterns. Seymchan meteorites, which are unusually resistant to oxidation, are renowned for one of the most robust crystalline patterns, and this character is much in evidence in this spearpoint superbly fashioned by an expert artisan. Originating from between Jupiter and Mars, this recently fashioned spearpoint is accompanied by a wood base.
125 x 42 x 3mm (5 x 1.66 x 0.1 in.) and 63.7 grams
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