PALLASITE

 

Pallasites are widely regarded as the most beautiful meteorites in existence (with the possible exception of bencubbinites).  Pallasites are a type of stony-iron meteorite.  They contain mixtures of metallic iron-nickel (silver-colored) plus an abundance of forsterite olivine (yellowish to greenish), which is a ferromagnesian silicate mineral.  Backlit pallasite slices show that the olivine component is transparent.  Pallasites appear to represent samples from near the core-mantle boundary of a once-intact, differentiated asteroid.

 


 

Pallasite - cut & polished slice of the Esquel Meteorite, found in 1951 in Chubut, Argentina.  FMNH Me 3194 (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA).  (More info. on the Esquel Meteorite)

 

Pallasite - cut & polished slice of the Esquel Meteorite, backlit to show olivine transparency.  Public display at meteorite museum at Odessa Impact Crater, Texas, USA.

 

Pallasite - cut & polished slice of the Esquel Meteorite.  Public display at meteorite museum at Odessa Impact Crater, Texas, USA.

 


 

Pallasite (above & below; ~3.3 cm across) - cut & polished slice of the Fukang Meteorite, back-illuminated to show forsterite olivine transparency.  The black areas are metallic iron-nickel (Fe-Ni).  Fukang is a spectacular pallasite found in the 2000s in the Gobi Desert of northwestern China's Xinjiang Province.

(More info. on the Fukang Meteorite)

 

Pallasite (~3.3 cm across) - cut & polished slice of the Fukang Meteorite (same sample as above), tilted to show silvery color & luster of iron-nickel metal.  The dark areas are forsterite olivine.

 


 

 

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