An unusual and exceptional Pallasite with anomalous properties from the pea fields of Springwater, Saskatchewan, Canada. Original mass found 1931, the 12th meteorite found in North America; additional discoveries later.
It is the result of the violent destruction of what would otherwise have been a planet during the formation of our solar system. It comes from the boundary between the silica rich mantle and the iron-nickel core of a now extinct planetoid, torn away by a catastrophic impact with another planet or asteroid. A mix of solid stone forming olivine crystals in suspension in liquid metal was flung into space to cool over millions of years in a vacuum and zero gravity, forming this beautiful mixture (which could not be created on Earth).
Thirty percent of this meteorite is the iron-rich metallic phases kamacite and taenite, with the rest mostly made up of gemmy, golden olivine crystals embedded in that metal matrix. Only 0.4% of all meteorites are pallasites – the most dazzling of all meteorites. And only 15 of this type have been found.
Springwater PMG-an
6.55″ x 5.2″ x 0.1 inches, weighs 133 gm.
Analyzed by the Smithsonian, original paper from 1932
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