Pallasovka | |
Type: | Stony-iron |
Class: | Pallasite |
Group: | Main Group Pallasite (anomalous) |
Composition: | Olivine: Fe/Mn = 45.2, Fe/Mg = 0.14; Metal: Fe 86 wt%, Ni 13.1 wt%, Ir 0.12 ppm, Au 2.8 ppm, Pt 3.2 ppm, Ga 22.5 ppm, Ge 24.9 ppm |
Country: | Russia |
Region: | Volgograd Oblast |
Lat Long: | 49.8667°N 46.6117°W |
Observed Fall: | No |
Found Date: | July 1990 |
Tkw: | 198 kg |
Pallasovka is a pallasite meteorite found in 1990 near the town of Pallasovka, Russia.
One single mass of was found from the town of Pallasovka by N. F. Kharitonov (a local resident) on a dike on the edge of an artificial water reservoir. The pond and dike were built in 1978 using explosives so the mass has probably been lifted to the surface from a depth of about 2 m. In fall 2004, Kharitonov gave a small sample to A. Ye. Milanovsky who transferred it to the Vernadsky Institute (Moscow) and then proved its meteoritic origin.
The town of Pallasovka was named after Peter Pallas (1741-1811), a famous naturalist who took part in the discovery and the study of the first pallasite, a type of stony-iron meteorite named after him. Coincidentally, Pallasovka is a pallasite meteorite named after a town named after the discoverer of pallasites.
This pallasite consists of approximately equal parts of olivine and metal. Some olivine crystals reach a size of . Its composition is similar to the Main Group pallasites, however it is called anomalous because chromites differ in composition both from that of the Main and Eagle Station pallasite groups.[1]
The main mass has abundant rusty fusion crust with some regmaglypts and was held by an anonymous purchaser.
A 9336 g sample and one polished section are on deposit at Vernad.