Sample No.: ILD83500

Location: Inland Forts

Field No.: 2537

Weight (gms): 2523

Meteorite Type: Ataxite

Physical Description: Roy S Clarke, Jr.

This specimen was found near Inland Forts by Bob Ackert of the University of Maine at Orono, it was found "imbedded in loose sandy till with abundant pebbles and cobbles of the Beacon Sandstone and dolorite. The glacial deposit overlies the Beacon Sandstone. The top of the white evaporite deposit marks the depth at which the iron was buried." The specimen is flat with an outline similar to a policeman's badge, 13.5 cm x 12 cm x 4 cm. It has three distinct surface types. The exposed surface as found is slightly irregular and covered with a scaly reddish-brown to dark reddish-brown iron oxide coating. This surface is bordered on the sides by a band of cream colored soil and clay a few mms to a cm or slightly more thick. The sides and bottom of the specimen below this band have a much different appearance. The surface is rough, ranges in color from black to reddish-brown, and has numerous soil particles and sand grains adhering.

Tentative Classification: Roy S. Clarke, Jr.

A metallographic surface of 9 cm² was prepared for examination. The most prominent feature of the martensitic matrix surface are cm-long lamellar inclusions that appear to be oriented according to parent taenite crystallography. They are bordered by thin kamacite that occasionally contains schreibersite. They appear to have contained very thin cores that have been replaced by oxides due to weathering. The matrix contains a high concentration of schreibersites in the 50 micron range surrounded by kamacite. The orientation of the kamacite seems to have been controlled by schreibersite precipitation. One small troilite was seen. The specimen is similar in many ways to the meteorite Freda.