Huckitta is a

pallasite The pallasites are a class of stony–iron meteorite. Structure and composition It consists of centimetre-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching. Mino ...

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

recovered in 1937 from Huckitta Cattle Station in the Northern Territory of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

History

In 1924 a meteoritic mass of was found by Herbert Basedow on Burt Plain (23°33'S, 133°52'E), about north of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. This mass was called ''Alice Springs''. In July 1937, the

main mass This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites. # * 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites. * 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid bel ...

of was recovered by Cecil Madigan at Huckitta (22°22'S, 135°46'E). Over of iron shale was also found. The ''Alice Springs'' meteorite was then paired with the main mass and considered a transported fragment. Today the location of the site where the main mass was found is on Arapunya Cattle Station, which had been part of Huckitta Cattle Station but was excised from it after the meteorite had been recovered.

Composition and classification

It is a

related to Main Group of pallasites. This pallasite is severely weathered: almost all of the metal is highly oxidized and transformed mainly into maghemite and goethite, and the olivine crystals are often altered. Sometimes it is called an ''anomalous'' Main Group pallasite because, compared to other Main Group pallasites, it has rather high Ge and Ga contents, higher Pt, W, Ir, and lower Au content.

Specimens

*Main mass, South Australian Museum, Adelaide *, Monnig collection,

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Texas *,

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, Tempe *, Natural History Museum, London *, Max Planck Institute, Mainz *, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. *,

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

, Chicago

Notes

External links

Madigan's account of the discovery and analysis of the meteorite
(PDF) {{Meteorites by name Meteorites found in Australia Geology of the Northern Territory

History

Composition and classification

Specimens

Notes

See also

External links