Name: Miller Range 090930 This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name. Abbreviation: MIL 090930 Observed fall: No Year found: 2009 Country: Antarctica [Collected by US Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET)] Mass: 150 g
Macroscopic Description - Tim McCoy and Linda Welzenbach
This irregularly-shaped iron exhibits one flattened side, with the other side having two concave surfaces meeting at a ridge and tapering to one end of the meteorite. Rust halos are present, with extensive rusting, including flaking of the surface.
Thin Section Description - Tim McCoy and Linda Welzenbach
The section samples a portion of an interior slice, including the surface of the sample. No fusion crust remains on the meteorite; although a thin (1.5 mm) discolored heat-altered zone is present. This small meteorite is comprised of 5-6 primary austenite crystals, with boundaries between crystals now defined by 100 micrometer thick irregular ribbons of kamacite. The bulk of the meteorite exhibits a plessitic to regular micro-Widmanstätten structure with occasional kamacite platelets and abundant rhabdite phosphides. A microprobe traverse finds kamacite, zoned taenite with rim compositions up to 30 wt.% Ni, and rare Ni-rich (45 wt.%) phosphides. The bulk composition is approximately 9.7 wt.% Ni, 0.6 wt.% Co and 0.2 wt.% P. The meteorite is a Ni-rich ataxite and chemically and structurally similar to some high-Ni IVA irons. Given the compositional similarity to MIL 090564, pairing should be considered, although differences in structure argue against this.
SI: Department of Mineral Sciences, NHB-119, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, United States; Website (institutional address; updated 16 Jan 2012)
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150 g
