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Imilac
Location: The Atacama Desert, Chile
Type: Pallasite
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#1
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#2
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Imilac
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Slice
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Front View
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Back View
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Weight: 10.49 grams
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Price: $100.00
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From my Personal Collection
Imilac
History
Name: Imilac
Location: The Atacama Desert, Chile
Type: Pallasite
In 1828 a mass of 9.265 grams was presented to the British Museum and another
of 1.8 kilogram was given to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh. The
masses had been acquired from an indian who had traveled from the Atacama
Desert across the Andes Mountains to sell the specimens in the capital of
Argentina. The precise locality was only given in very loose terms, but
it was stated that there existed numerous other fragments in the place
and that several had been collected into a heap, estimated to weigh about
140 kilograms. In the second quarter of the nineteenth century many of
these fragments were carried in small portions by Indians to Peruvian,
Bolivian, Chilean and Argentinean coast towns from where they slowly
spread to a surprisingly large number of public museums and private
collectors. A professor Santiago happened to meet the original finder
of the meteoric iron, Jose Maria Chaile, who guided him to the place
in January 1954. Chaile had found the first samples about 1820 while
hunting guanacos. Since he supposed them to be silver or silver ore,
he removed two pieces, estimated to weigh 60-75 kilograms each, and
buried them safely in the vicinity of the watering place Pajonal,
20 km southeast of the finding place. Later these specimens could not
be found by Chaile, and it is uncertain whether they have ever been
recovered. Many fragments had evidently already been collected by the
natives who used the site as a veritable iron mine and had forged
various items from the metal. Scientists believe that pallasites
formed when a planet was forming. The material from the molten metal
core of a planet mixed with the silicate magma, and the olivine
crystallized out of the silicate as it cooled. These crystals were
then forced into the metal "mold" where the mass solidified, forming
a unique "pimento loaf" effect. Two grades exist: Grade 2 which has
been subject to weathering, and Grade 1 which is the more beautiful
and has a wonderful gem-like quality.
Never published in the Meteoritical Society Bulletins but some information is available.
Check out their web site at http://www.meteoriticalsociety.org/
MARE METEORITICS
c/o MIKE MARTINEZ
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Lathrop, CA. 95330
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