Beryozovka        52°39.86’N, 76°55.26’E

Pavlodar, Kazakhstan

Find: August 2013

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5-6)

History: A single stone was found in August 2013 by Mr. K. M. Tulendiev ~18 km north of the village Berezovka (synonym Zhambyl, Pavlodar region, Kazakhstan) on the steppe during hay making. The stone was in a pit of 2 m in diameter and ~0.7 m in depth. The sample was moved to Berezovka and remained there in a shed. In 2015, Mr. Aron Kadyrov learned about the stone’s location from Mr. Tulendiev and searched for it. He find that the shed was demolished, but eventually found the stone among junk. Several pieces of ~100 g were separated from the main mass. The stone was identified as a meteorite by Dr. V. L. Levin (K. I. Satpaev Institute of Geological Sciences, Almaty, Kazakhstan). In 2016 Mr. Kadyrov presented the sample of the meteorite to DMUH.

Physical characteristics: The stone is a pie-shaped oriented meteorite with a flat frontal surface and well-developed regmaglypts on the sides. The color is grayish-brown. Rear side appears faceted. Fusion crust is mostly preserved. Total recovered weight is 35.65 kg.

Petrography: (C. A. Lorenz, Vernad) The slices show a fractured and brecciated interior. In section, the meteorite has a recrystallized chondritic texture corresponding to type 5 and comprises mineral grains, chondrule fragments and uncommon complete chondrules, cm-sized completely recrystallized fragments of type 6 chondrite, and rare carbonaceous chondrite fragments up to 1.5 mm in size containing fine-grained phillosylicate matrix and different objects. The type-5 lithology contains shock melt pockets and veinlets. Main phases are olivine, pyroxene, feldspar, Fe,Ni metal, troilite; chromite and phosphate are accessory. The type-6 clasts are up to 1.5 cm in size and have sharp borders with the H5 host. Carbonaceous chondrite clasts, up to 1.5 mm in size, have a fine-grained phyllosilicate-rich matrix enclosing inclusions of serpentine, olivine, pyroxene, sulfides, minor magnetite, and FeNi metal enclosed within the olivine grains. Two olivine chondrules of 25 and 100 µm in diameter were found in the carbonaceous clasts.

Geochemistry: Mineral compositions and geochemistry: (N. N. Kononkova, Vernad.) Olivine Fa_19.1±0.5 (N=18); Pyroxene Fs_16.7±0.3Wo_1.4±0.2 (N=16) . Carbonaceous chondrite clasts matrix (defocused beam, N=17), wt%: Na₂O 0.18±0.15; MgO 15.5±2.6; Al₂O₃ 2.44±0.18; SiO₂ 31.2±2.2; K₂O 0.46±0.45; CaO 0.58±0.36; TiO₂ 0.11±0.3; Cr₂O₃ 0.39±0.8; MnO 0.18±0.11; FeO 29.9±3.2; NiO 2.02±0.82.

Classification: H5-6 breccia with CM-chondrite clasts. The meteorite is moderately weathered (W2) and shocked (S3).

Specimens: A sample of 1468 g and two sections are deposited in Vernad; DMUH holds a sample of 31.7 kg.