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Corowa

The Corowa meteorite was first recognised in 1964 however it was discovered prior to this year. It was found near Corowa, New South Wales, Australia which is a rural town on Australia's famous Murray River and is actually the border of New South Wales and Victoria. A single mass weighing 11.3kg was plowed up just 6km from the township. A portion of the meteorite was cut with an oxy-acetylene torch and examined by the finder while at a later  date, another section was cut using a power hacksaw and examined in detail by Baker et al, (1964). Renowned iron meteoriticist, Vagn Buchwald, also studied and wrote about the Corowa iron in his 1975, "Handbook of Iron Meteorites".

Corowa has been classified as a very rare Anomalous Plessitic Octahedrite and allocated into the rare IIF group which has only five meteorites known in total. Corowa also has a high nickel content of over 13.1%. Vagn Buchwald stated in the previously mentioned study that "etched sections show that Corowa is a plessitic octahedrite where scattered, pointed kamacite spindles cover about 20% by area, while taenite and plessite, with more numerous but much finer kamacite spindles, cover 80%." Plessite (or plessitic) is not a mineral as such but rather a fine grained mixture of Kamacite and Taenite.

Another point raised by Buchwald which is somewhat evident in the photographs below is that "troilite occurs as a few large nodules, 5-10mm across, and as small blebs, widely disseminated in the metallic matrix, according to a sulphur print in Baker et al. (1964). The troilite is shock melted and solidified to fine grained aggregates from which minute veinlets radiate through adjacent schreibersite and a portion of the metal. Small angular fragments of schreibersite may be found dispersed in the troilite melt." The troilite inclusion pictured in the first image measures 21.5mm x 7.5mm and 8.5mm x 7mm in the second image.

The specimen below is a 70.6g Partslice, representing an end one-third of a Complete Slice taken from the Main Mass. This specimen is part of the Meteorites Australia Collection (MA.05.0111).

Corowa (IIF) 70.6g Partslice
Corowa (IIF) - 70.6g Partslice
(Click image to enlarge in new window.)

Corowa (IIF) 70.6g Partslice
Corowa (IIF) - 70.6g Partslice
(Click image to enlarge in new window.)

 

 

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