Tequisquiapan        20°30’N, 99°58’W

Queretaro de Arteaga, Mexico

Found: 2012

Classification: IAB complex

History: In spring 2012, Roberto Gonzalez tripped over a small dense rock. He collected the sample and gave the material to a geography teacher, Elvia Muñiz. In February 2013, she donated the meteorite to CU.

Physical characteristics: This meteorite is a single mass of 2311.9 g, with a prismatic shape (9.3 × 7.4 × 7.85 cm). The surface of the meteorite shows minor oxidation, and poorly developed regmaglypts.

Petrography: (K. Cervantes and E. Gomez, CU) This meteorite is a medium octahedrite; kamacite has an average bandwidth of 0.77±0.15 mm. Plessite fields and taenite occupy 33% of the area of the section, while phosphides occupy less than 0.5%. The most common accessory mineral is schreibersite, with habits ranging from rhabdites to irregular shapes. Carbides present; weak Neumann bands.

Geochemistry: (E. Hernández-Álvarez and O. Morton-Bermea, Instituto de Geofísica-CU) ICP-MS. Composition of 0.4 g of shavings and small fragments: Ni 64619; Ge 105.7; Ga 44.42; Ir 1.43; Mo 121.37; Rh 0.68; Pd 3.69; Sn 11.55; Co 3897; Cr 138.8; Pt 1.2; In 0.099; Re 0.088 (all ppm).

Classification: Iron, medium octahedrite. Based on Ge/Ga=2.6, the meteorite is IAB complex; see Wasson and Kallemeyn (2002). Low weathering.

Specimens: Main mass of 2311.9 g including a polished section (3.8 g) are held by CU.