Miller Butte  03002

Antarctica

Found 2003 December 13

Iron, medium octahedrite (IID)

This 82.7 g specimen is a complete crusted meteorite with a flat, truncated octahedron shape (and Widmanstätten pattern in relief on one side) found by a PNRA team. Mineralogy and classification (M. D’Orazio and N. Perchiazzi, Pisa University, and L. Folco, MNA-SI): the meteorite consists of kamacite lamellae and plessite fields separate by thin layers of secondary oxides enhancing the Widmanstätten pattern; kamacite bandwith 0.82 ± 0.20 mm, kamacite/plessite volume ratio = 1, crystals of schreibersite (Fe/Ni atomic ratio = 2:1) up to 2 mm in maximum dimension occur along the center of kamacite lamellae. Bulk chemical composition (ICP-MS analyses; D'Orazio and Folco, 2003): Co 6.6 mg g^-1, Ni 103 mg g^-1, Cu 264 μg g^-1, Ga 71 μg g^-1, Ge, 76 μg g^-1, Ir 11.3 μg g^-1, Pt 14.9 μg g^-1. Specimens: main mass and type specimen MNA-SI.