Charlotte meteorite, Dickson Co., Tennessee, USA

Iron meteorite, Octahedrite (IIAB, Of)
Fall,~31 July 1835, 4.3 kg

After detonations and sounds, an iron meteorite [8% Ni] lodged itself in the roots of an oak tree. The actual kidney-shaped mass was not recovered until a few weeks later during plowing. While a local blacksmith and others had dreams of precious metals, G. Troost eventually managed to obtain most of the mass of one of the first witnessed and recorded falls of an iron meteorite. The telltale Widmanstätten pattern became clear when viewed with a strong magnifying glass and the corresponding cleavage planes were revealed when a small piece was broken off. The overall description of the meteorite is quite straightforward. Kamacite with Neumann bands, accompanied by accessory taenite, is dominant. Troilite and schreibersite are present in quite minor amounts and traces of daubréelite are found. The expected magnetite of a fusion crust has apparently been scraped off. The meteorite is a little unusual in that it appears to have been altered and annealed during its a long oriented passage through the atmosphere — producing most of the Neumann bands and blurring its mineralogical textures (Buchwald, 1975).

Charlotte was the first of only 4 witnessed and recorded IVA iron falls. (All told, 79 IVA irons had been recovered by 2014). 2 kg, most of the meteorite's anterior, is held at Harvard.

Mineral List

6 entries listed. 4 valid minerals.

References

External Links