Cruz del Eje        30°45’S, 64°47’W

Cordoba, Argentina

Found: 10 May 1971

Classification: Iron meteorite (IAB complex)

History: A single metallic mass of 14.0 kg was found outside the town of Cruz del Eje by an anonymous person. A sample of this metal including both interior and exterior portions was sent to Cascadia in March, 2008 for examination.

Physical characteristics: (A. Ruzicka, Cascadia): The exterior surface has a brown to black weathering patina. The interior is relatively featureless except for irregular cracks at grain boundaries, along which minor weathering has occurred.

Petrography: (S. Kissin, LHU; A. Ruzicka, Cascadia): Microscopic examination of cut and etched surfaces show that the meteorite is a coarsest octahedrite, containing taenite but dominated by irregularly shaped kamacite grains with bandwidth >3.3 mm. Microhardness measurements for kamacite yielded VHN = 201 mean (range 196-206, 3 measurements). This indicates moderate work hardening.

Geochemistry: (S. Kissin, LHU; A. Ruzicka, Cascadia): INAA was performed according to the methods of Wasson et al. (1998) at Activation Laboratories (Ancaster, Ontario), irradiating polished cubes of ~0.4 g and ~3.2 mm thick. This yielded the following elemental concentrations (all units μg/g except where noted): As (12.8), Au (1.52), Co (4.62 mg/g), Cr (21), Cu (108), Ga (44), Ge (130), Ir (4.21), Ni (68.9 mg/g), Pt (11.6), Re (0.38), Sb (<20), W (<10). These data suggest that the meteorite belongs to the IAB complex as defined by Wasson and Kallemeyn (2002). Most elemental concentrations are similar to those reported for the IAB main group, except that the concentration of Ga is lower by ~50% and that of Ge is lower by ~60%. However, the determinations of Ga and Ge may be somewhat in error.

Classification: Iron, coarsest octahedrite (IAB)

Specimens: A type specimen of 21.4 g is available at Cascadia. The main mass is held by the finder.