This complete slice displays the signature coarse octahedral latticework idiosyncratic of Mount Dooling specimens, with Troilite and Neumann bands, the result of a massive collision in interplanetary space.
The Mount Dooling meteorite is one of the rarest types of iron meteorite with only 11 known worldwide out of more than 1300 irons. It is a patchwork of bisecting crystal patterns and large troilite inclusions. The parent body was impacted many times in space which produced this unique Widmänstatten pattern and crystal structure.
In a remote, largely inaccessible region in the southwest corner of Australia about 250 miles from Perth, the Mount Dooling meteorite was first discovered in 1909 by the gold prospector, A.P. Brophy. In this select example, large metallic grains appear interwoven in a complex array specific to the IC chemical group. The smallest group of iron meteorites, the IC group displays latticework indicative of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time—millions of years—for the meteorite’s molecules to organize into their crystalline habit. The small amount of nickel in Mount Dooling (about 6%) results in the coarse, more abstract pattern seen here than in other iron meteorites. At some point, after solidifying, Mount Dooling experienced a high-energy impact in interplanetary space; the iron sulfide nodules were melted and the kamacite grains developed shock-produced twin lamellae known as Neumann bands.
Almost all of this meteorite is in the Western Australia Museum in Perth, making this large 3kg slice pretty rare.
460 mm x 180 mm x 5 mm (18.1 x 7.1 inches)
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