PALLASITE – PMGMagadan District, Russia ( 62°54’ N, 152°26’ E)

Details

LARGE SEYMCHAN METEORITE SLICE
PALLASITE – PMG
Magadan District, Russia ( 62°54’ N, 152°26’ E)
This is a large format, complete slice of a Seymchan meteorite of the pure-metal variety which was cut from a meteorite that weighed hundreds of pounds. A prominent Widmanstätten pattern is in evidence; a latticework that is indicative of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time — millions of years — for the two metallic alloys (kamacite and taenite) to form their intricate intergrowth.
575 x 450 x 6mm (22½ x 17½ x ¼in.)
8kg (17.6lbs)

Special Notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

In the 1960s, two large metallic masses were found in a streambed in a part of Siberia made infamous as the remote location of Stalin’s gulags. Identified as meteorites, they were named Seymchan for a nearby town. Unlike Imilac (see lots 5,6 & 7) and Esquel (see lot 20) and the vast majority of other pallasitic meteorites, the dispersion of olivine crystals in Seymchan is extremely heterogeneous. Some specimens are olivine rich and some are olivine poor; some specimens have no olivine whatsoever.

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