LARGE SWEDISH METEORITE SLICE. ...

Description

LARGE SWEDISH METEORITE SLICE
Muonionalusta - fine (IVA) octahedrite
Kiruna, Norrbotten, Northern Sweden
Believed to have fallen over 800,000 years ago, searches for the Mouonionalusta impact crater have been in vain. One of the few meteorites recovered from north of the Arctic Circle, it is assumed they were transported by glacial action. Muonionalusta specimens are almost always buried, located only with specialized metal detectors. Muonionalusta is the first iron meteorite in which stishovite was found, a rare and extremely hard polymorph of quartz which forms by very high shock pressure. This is a particularly fine, complete slice, with good external surface features and a mesmerizing Widmanstätten pattern, an unearthly shimmering metallic grid which is diagnostic in the identification of iron meteorites. A select example of an superb iron meteorite. 483 x 267 x 3 mm (19 x 10.5 x 0.1 inches) and 2226g (4.9 lb).

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