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| Rocks from Outer Space! |
Fall Recorded: 1947
Location: Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Primorye, Russia
Strewnfield: 1.3 km ellipse
Sikhote-Alin Meteorite (also spelled Sikhotae-Alin)
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fall was a massive impact event that occurred on February 12, 1947, approximately
440 km northeast of Vladivostok, Russia.
Fall
At around 10:30 am on February 12, 1947, eyewitnesses in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Primorye, Russia,
observed a fireball brighter than the sun that came out of the north and descended at an angle of about 41
degrees. The bright flash and the deafening sound of the fall were observed for three hundred kilometers
around the point of impact near the village of Paseka (approximately 440 km northeast of Vladivostok). A
smoke train, estimated at 32 km long, remained in the sky for several hours.
As the meteorite entered the atmosphere, traveling at a speed of about 14 km/s, it began to break apart, and
the fragments fell together. At an altitude of about 5.6 km, the largest mass apparently broke up in a violent
explosion.
The strewn field for this meteorite covered an elliptical area of about 1.3 km. Some of the fragments made
craters, the largest of which was about 26 m across and 6 m deep. Fragments of the meteorite were also
driven into the surrounding trees.
Description
Specimens of the Sikhote-Alin Meteorite are basically of two types;
Individuals
(1) individuals..pieces showing fusion crust and signs of ablation. These first probably broke off of the main
object early in the descent. These pieces are characterized by regmaglypts (cavities resembling thumb prints)
in the surface of each specimen.
(Ablation is defined as the removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other
erosive processes. The term occurs in space physics associated with atmospheric reentry)
Shrapnel
(2) shrapnel...those showing evidence of violent fragmentation. The second type is fragments which were
either torn apart in the atmosphere during the descent or blasted apart upon impact. Most were probably the
result of the explosion at 5.6 km altitude.
Size
Sikhote-Alin is a massive fall. The overall size has been estimated at just under 900,000 kg. A large specimen
is on display in Moscow, and a great number of smaller specimens have made their way into private collections.
Structure and chemical composition
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite is classified as a coarse octahedrite type IIB. It is composed of approximately 93%
iron, 5.9% nickel, 0.42% cobalt, 0.46% phosphorus, and 0.28% sulfur, with trace amounts of germanium and
iridium. Minerals present include taenite, plessite, rhabites, troilite, chromite, kamacite, and schreibersite.
Sikhote-Alin displays a beautiful pattern of Widmanstatten lines when sliced and etched. It is the amount of
nickel relative to the amount of iron present that creates this crystalline pattern. This pattern is only present in
etched meteorites and is one way of determining the authenticity of a suspected meteorite find.
Iron meteorites are extremely rare. Of all of the meteorites that fall on the earth, scientists estimate that only
about five percent are Iron Meteorites.
| Item # ME6SA107001 Sikhote-Alin Shrapnel 78g Iron Meteorite $60.00 |
| 78 grams of stunning Sikhote-Alin shrapnel meteorite A 78 gram natural (just as it was found) Sikhote-Alin Shrapnel Meteorite measuring 65mm x 34mm x 22mm nice orientation, flow and some rollover visible on this specimen. This meteorite is natural, un-cut and un-polished with no coatings. |
