Meteorites, Magadan region, Russia
Seymchan pallasite
Seymchan Pallasite
Metal and stone fused where a protoplanet's core came to an end.
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- Epoch
- Before life began
- Age
- ≈ 4.56 billion years
- Origin
- Magadan Oblast, Russia
- Weight
- 3 815 g
- Classification
- Stony-iron meteorite (Seymchan pallasite)
- Ref.
- R–0283
Olivine does not enter iron by chance: according to the classical model, such mixing arose where the core of a protoplanet met its rocky mantle. Molten metal seeped between the crystals and set together with them. The slice shows a section of that zone; on Earth it does not exist.
Pallasites are the rarest class of meteorites. According to the classical model, they were born at the boundary between the iron core and the rocky mantle of a shattered protoplanet: molten nickel-iron seeped through crystals of olivine and set together with them. This is possible only where metal and stone meet under immense pressure.
Seymchan was found in 1967 in the north of the Magadan region, and has since been counted among the most beautiful meteorites of Russia. The slice shows what no workshop could make: a metallic lattice with the Widmanstätten lines of cosmic crystallisation, set with transparent grains of olivine that kindle to amber against the light. The age of the material is about 4.56 billion years: it is older than the Earth.
As found
Seymchan is lifted from the Magadan taiga as rusty-brown masses. Neither the olivine nor the pattern is visible from outside — they are revealed only by the cut.