1.67" Polished Meteorite (5.36 g) Slice - Rare Winonaite!

This is a 1.67" wide (5.36 gram) slice of the winonaite meteorite NWA 13917. Winonaites like this are notable for their chondritic composition comprised of nickel-iron and stony material: this specimen shows off its features spectacularly, displaying its nickel-iron chondrules among clasts of handsome brown silicate-rich stone. It has been lightly polished on one side.

About NWA 13917 and Winonaite

NWA 13917 is a very unusual kind of achondrite known as a winonaite. Winonaites, named for the type specimen found in Winona, Arizona in 1928, are a kind of primitive achondrite made from the heating and partial melting of chrondritic material, resulting in some unique metamorphic features. They are notable for their equigranular, partially melted chondrules, high nickel-iron contents, and even silicate inclusions similar in composition to those found in iron IAB meteorites. To date, only 54 winonaites are known.

NWA 13917 was purchased in September 2020 and January 2021 from an individual(s) in Morocco. Several stones similar in appearance were found together, the largest of which weighing 1.6 kg, 1.4 kg, and 1.2 kg. The meteorites are composed of varying amounts of enstatite, diopside, forsterite, kamacite, taenite, and troilite grains. These metallic kamacite and taenite features truly shine on a polished slice of this gorgeous meteorite.

Meteoritical Bulletin Database Entry - NWA 13917

About Achondrites

Achondrites are a type of stony meteorite that lacks chondrules--round grains that aggregate from molten or partially molten droplets in space to form chondrites. Achondrites still contain grains, but their textures are extremely distinct and analogous with igneous processes rather than the chondrule-producing conditions at the beginning of the solar system.

Achondrites make up about 8 percent of all known meteorites. They are almost all regolith breccias, ejected from impacts on larger asteroids and sometimes the moon and Mars. Most are HED (howardite-eucrite-diogenite) in composition, sourced from the asteroid Vesta: it is the second largest asteroid in the Solar System and the only asteroid visible to the naked eye.
FOR SALE
$185
DETAILS
TYPE
Primitive Achondrite (Winonaite)
LOCATION
Northwestern Africa
SIZE
1.67 x 1.10 x .09", 5.36 grams
CATEGORY
ITEM
#300998