METEORITE (SIKHOTE-ALIN) REGMALYPTED FRAGMENT

An exquisite Sikhote-Alin Meteorite Regmalypted Fragment from the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, Russia

This fragment is an 'Orientated' fragment. An Orientated fragment is when the piece shows the direction that it fell from the presence of 'lips' on the side of the piece caused by the airflow during the fall (visible in the third image along the edges of the fragment). These are considered rare.

Dimensions: 2.3cm x 2.0cm x 0.9cm (0.9 inches x 0.7 inches x 0.3 inches)

An Iron Meteorite fell on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, South-East Russia at around 10.30am on 12th February 1947. It was the largest Iron Meteorite fall ever recorded with an estimated 70 tonnes of material falling on the earth. 

There are two common types of specimen:

i) Shrapnel or Fragmented Specimens that have sharp edges of torn metal. These are thought to have been formed by a violent explosion of pieces of the Meteorite in the lower atmosphere or by an explosion when the Meteorite impacted the solid frozen ground. It is believed that all the shrapnel pieces have been discovered so they are becoming increasingly rare.

ii) Regmalypted or Thumprinted Specimens that are smooth and more rounded. These are thought to have broken away earlier in in the descent, in the higher atmosphere, as they show fusion crust and atmospheric ablation.

The meteorite photographed is the meteorite you will receive.

Due to meteorites being a natural product, this meteorite may have some minor imperfections on the outer surface.