ESQUEL - SPACE GEM SLICE. ...

Description

ESQUEL - SPACE GEM SLICE
Pallasite, PMG
Chubut Province, Argentina
Pallasites are among the most sought-after of all meteorites, not only for their rarity, but for the incredible "space gems" they contain. Pallasites originate from the boundary between the molten iron core and the stony mantle of a large planetary body that no longer exists - it broke apart billions of years ago to create the Asteroid Belt whilst the solar system was still in the process of being formed. Only the outer surface of the molten iron was exposed to the fragments of the stony mantle, which crystallized into the olivine gems, and which accounts for the pallasites' rarity - comprise less than 3% of all known meteorites. Of this class of meteorite, the Esquel is among the finest, sometimes called the "Queen of the Pallasites," having experienced relatively little shock and typically containing highly translucent, well-formed crystals of golden yellow olivine. This gorgeous example is a thin slice with superb pale gems dotting the silvery matrix, and one particularly dense cluster at one corner, measuring approximately 4¼ x 3 3/8 x 1/16 inches, 63.7 grams, in a membrane case.

Provenance: Geoff Notkin collection, co-host of Science Channel's award-winning series Meteorite Men.

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