Tavn-Gashun        45°59.47’N, 46°24.18’E

Kalmykiya-Khal’mg Tangch, Russia

Find, doubtful fall: 2 Jul 1991

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5)

History: On July 2, 1991, at 1-2 a.m. (UTC+3), Mr. D. A. Zharkov was in a tent and heard a whistling sound followed by, a dull sound of something falling. In the morning, Mr. Zharkov found a meteorite within 20-30 m of the tent. He was 37.5 km west of the willage Tavn-Gashun. Macroscopic examination and petrographic study show that this is not a fresh fall. The meteorite is partly covered with carbonates (D. A. Kazakov, private communication). Between 1991 and 2004 the stone was broken into two fragments, one of which (~300 g) was lost. Analyst N.N. Kononkova (Vernad)

Physical characteristics: Physical characterisics: A stone of oriented shape with regmaglypted surface, completely covered with brown fusion crust. The mass of the stone is 4240 g.

Petrography: The meteorite contains chondrule fragments (500-1200 μm), a few whole chondrules (250-500 μm), FeNi metal (300-600 μm) and metal-troilite aggregates. Matrix is fine-grained, crystalline, and has granular metamorphic texture. The olivine grains display undulatory extinction and planar deformation features. The metal grains are partly replaced by FeNi hydroxides. The veinlets of FeNi hydroxides cross the rock.