Main centres: | 1-3 business days |
Regional areas: | 3-4 business days |
Remote areas: | 3-5 business days |
GROUP OF SIX MAGNETIC POSSIBLE METEORITE FRAGMENTS 4 BILLION YEARS OLD CONTAINS IRON NICKEL MAGNETIC AS SEEN IN PHOTOS
VERY RARE: METEORITES ARE AMONG THE RAREST MATERIALS ON EARTH - LESS COMMON THAN GOLD, DIAMONDS AND EVEN EMERALDS. AND OF THE METEORITES ONLY 5% ARE IRON METEORITES.
CHARACTERISTICS OF IRON METEORITES AND METEORITES IN GENERAL:
1. IRON METEORITES TYPICALLY ACQUIRE SMALL OVAL SHAPED DEPRESSIONS (REGMAGLYPTS, ALSO KNOWN AS THUMBPRINTS) ON THEIR SURFACES AS LOOKS LIKE TO BE SEEN ON SOME OF THE PHOTOS.
2. THEY WILL ALSO EASILY ADHERE TO A MAGNET AS SEEN ON THE PHOTOS. A MAJORITY OF METEORITES ARE MAGNETIC. IF A SPECIMEN ISNT MAGNETIC, IT PROBABLY ISNT A METEORITE. BUT IT STILL CAN BE MAGNETITE (GREY) OR HEMATITE (REDDISH) COMMON EARTH ROCKS THAT ARE MAGNETIC. BUT BOTH MAGNETITE AND HEMATITE WILL SHOW SMALL AIR ESCAPING HOLES CALLED VESICLES. IF A ROCK HAS VESICLES (TINY HOLES CREATED BY GAS ESCAPING FROM COOLING MOLTEN ROCK) THEN IT IS NOT A METEORITE. IRON METEORITES ARE VERY DENSE AND WILL FEEL MUCH HEAVIER THAN NORMAL TERRESTRIAL ROCKS. THEY ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO RUST.
3. AND FINALLY METEORITES WILL HAVE A FUSION CRUST.
A FUSION CRUST IS THE MOST CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE THAT DISTINGUISHES A METEORITE FROM FROM A PLAIN OLD EARTH ROCK. IT IS A THIN LAYER OF BLACK OR DARK GLASS THAT COATS THE METEORITE AS IF IT HAD BEEN DIPPED IN TAR. THE FUSION CRUST FORMS WHEN THE METEORITE BLAZES THROUGH OUR ATMOSPHERE ON ITS WAY FROM INTERPLANETARY SPACE TO EARTH.
IF A ROCK DOES NOT HAVE A FUSION CRUST AND IT DOES NOT CONTAIN IRON-NICKEL, THEN IT IS PROPABLY NOT A METEORITE.
PLEASE SEE MY OTHER ITEMS ON AUCTION. I HAVE SOME MORE METEORITE FRAGMENTS THAT ARE STRONGLY MAGNETIC AS WELL AS SOME OTHER INTERESTING ROCK AND MINERAL AND FOSSIL ITEMS ON AUCTION THIS WEEK.