SIBERIAN NICKEL IRON METEORITE

SIBERIAN NICKEL IRON METEORITE

A lovely chunk of star dust in the form of a Siberian Nickel Iron Meteorite.  This specimen originally came from outer space and fell to Earth on February 12 1947.  IIB is the chemical classification for this meteorite which denotes this is the “Coarsest Octahedrite” with 5.7-6.4% Ni.

At the Cairo Museum in King Tutankhamun’s Tomb stash I saw a Meteoric Iron Knife.  Ancient Man would have thought Meteorites to be a gift from the skies.  Man made weapons like swords, knives, spears and arrow heads from meteorites.  Natural iron is not necessarily “native” to Earth since it rarely occurs on the Earth’s surface by terrestrial processes.  It is mostly found in the form of meteorites that have impacted the Earth’s surface.  A few rare terrestrial gabbros and sulfide deposits do contain elemental iron-nickel deposits, these are the only truly native iron-nickel.  All natural iron, whether it is native or meteoritic, is actually an alloy of iron and nickel.  The two elements are combined in varying percentages from less than 6% nickel to as much as 75% nickel, although iron is by far more common than nickel.

Location:
Sikhote Alin, Russia (IIB).

Dimensions:
3.3cmx 1.5cm x 2cm, 22g.