Is this a Meteorite?

[RockRock]

I found this rock while diving. I noticed that it has some meteorite like patterns. It is slightly magnetic. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

 

[giuhalftrack]

too much "bubbles", i know the surface is very similar to regmaglypts but for me it is not a meteorite

 

[rockcollect]

do you have a photo of the other side?

 

[Red-Coat]

I see vesicles (which are only rarely present in a small number of meteorites) rather than regmaglypts. I think this is either industrial slag or, more likely, clinker. Both are frequently attracted to a magnet with varying degrees of strength.

 

[k0bgalan]

Very interesting. Most iron meteorites are slightly magnetic and do show up as iron on a display. The really rare ones contain nickel and cannot be detect, albeit attracted to a magnet. I have several I found by looks alone, as nickel ones often show signs of being melted. Depending on their size, all meteorites bring good money.

 

[Digger54]

Very interesting. Most iron meteorites are slightly magnetic and do show up as iron on a display. The really rare ones contain nickel and cannot be detect, albeit attracted to a magnet. I have several I found by looks alone, as nickel ones often show signs of being melted. Depending on their size, all meteorites bring good money.

I would be interested in seeing your non ferrous meteorites if you would post pics of them. I have a peanut size specimen and looking for a local source that has an XRF so I can determine it's composition. I know it is not a soft metal like lead or babbit.

 

[Red-Coat]

Sorry, but some misinformation needs to be corrected here:

...Most iron meteorites are slightly magnetic and do show up as iron on a display...

ALL iron meteorites are strongly attracted to a magnet since their majority or second-largest component is native iron.

... The really rare ones contain nickel and cannot be detect, albeit attracted to a magnet...

Iron meteorites containing nickel are not “really rare ones”. As said above, all iron meteorites contain at least some nickel… typically in the region of 6% - 20% with some outliers a little above and below those values. There is a rare class of iron meteorites known as ataxites that can have an exceptionally high nickel content up to about 65%, but the remainder is still predominantly iron, so even higher-nickel ataxites are still strongly attracted to a magnet.

I have several I found by looks alone, as nickel ones often show signs of being melted.

Melt features in iron meteorites have nothing whatsoever to do with the presence of nickel. The two metals have similar melting points (Iron: 1,538 °C; Nickel: 1,453 °C) but, in any case, the two metals are present as the nickel-iron alloys kamacite (melting point 1,450°C to 1,500°C) and/or taenite (melting point 1,450°C to 1,500°C).

Neither alloy has a fixed composition, with kamacite containing 5% to 7.5% nickel by weight, and taenite containing 20% to 65% nickel by weight. Ataxites are composed primarily of taenite… hence the higher nickel content.

Depending on their size, all meteorites bring good money.

That’s a bit of a generalisation. Meteorite values vary enormously according to classification and the extent of the fall. Some iron meteorites which already have a formal name and a large strewnfield start as little as 50 cents per gram (as do unclassified Saharan chondrites); stony Lunar or Martian meteorites can go up into the thousands per gram. New falls tend to have the highest values, but those are generally only realised if the meteorite has been submitted for formal classification by an appropriately qualified laboratory and accepted into the MetSoc database.

 

[k0bgalan]

Here are the top and bottom as if it had them! The fragment is about 2.5 inches long and weighs 75 grams (2.5 ounces). The largest piece was nearly one pound. I didn't auction it off, but was offered $2,500 and I said yes. All told, there were 7 pieces and this one is about average. Over the years I gave the rest of the fragments to family members, save for this one.

 

[k0bgalan]

Red-Coat you obviously know more about meteorites than I do. I don't know how slightly got in there save for fat fingers and spell check. The sample here was identified by an astrophysicist I've know since high school (Prof. John. Brosnahan). He's dead now, so I can't ask him to chime in. The large piece I sold is now in a museum in Denver.

 

[Red-Coat]

Red-Coat you obviously know more about meteorites than I do. I don't know how slightly got in there save for fat fingers and spell check. The sample here was identified by an astrophysicist I've know since high school (Prof. John. Brosnahan). He's dead now, so I can't ask him to chime in. The large piece I sold is now in a museum in Denver.

So, if identified as a mateorite, it must have been classified, even if only tentatively. What was the classification? Does it have a formal name in the MetsSoc database?

 

[artyfacts]

Here are the top and bottom as if it had them! The fragment is about 2.5 inches long and weighs 75 grams (2.5 ounces). The largest piece was nearly one pound. I didn't auction it off, but was offered $2,500 and I said yes. All told, there were 7 pieces and this one is about average. Over the years I gave the rest of the fragments to family members, save for this one.

Sorry RockRock for stepping into your thread. Would love to see a nice closeup of the micro flowlines on the specimen you kept. At 2.5 inches long the diameter of the flowlines circled would be approximately a 1/4 of an inch wide, this would equate to the micro flowline valleys spacing at around .015 thousands of an inch apart on your specimen. Thank you for posting it.