Sikhote-Alin (IIAB)

3D ModelNoAI

On 12 February 1947 several metric tonnes of iron meteorites impacted the remote mountain range Sikhote Alin in southeastern Russia. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a fireball brighter than the Sun. The meteorite fall has a complex strewnfield due to multiple mid-air break-up event. The most massive fragments created impact craters, while a shower of many smaller fragments fell down in an area of 1.3 km^2. Likely due to violent breakup events some recovered meteorites resemble pieces of shrapnel. This particular specimen is a good example of an ‘individual’ with clear surface indentations known as regmaglypts. These features are typically better developed for iron meteorites compared to stony meteorites. The meteorite classifies as a coarse octahedrite, type IIAB. Read more in the Meteoritical Bulletin