ID 927029
Lot 38 | MOUNT DOOLING — PARTIAL SLICE OF EXOTIC AUSTRALIAN IRON METEORITE
Estimate value
$ 3 000 – 5 000
This is a choice display of Mount Dooling’s celebrated crystalline fingerprint. This latticework is indicative of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time — millions of years — for the molecules of the two metallic alloys to align to form the intricate intergrowth now seen. As this can only occur in the core of an asteroid — and theoretically within Earth’s core and that of other solid planets — the appearance of this pattern is diagnostic in the identification of a meteorite. As different iron meteorites have different compositions and cool at different rates, they frequently exhibit distinctly different patterns.
After solidifying, Mount Dooling experienced a high-energy impact in interplanetary space; its iron-sulfide nodules melted and the kamacite grains exhibit shock-produced twin lamellae known as Neumann bands.
This vaguely triangular partial slice is a superlative example — and matchless in at least one regard: an image of this very specimen graced the February 2022 cover of Meteoritics and Planetary Science (Vol 57 No. 2), a tribute edition in honor of the recent passage of Dr. John Wasson, one of the most important cosmochemists in modern times and one of the chief architects of the modern classification system of meteorites.
Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.
228 x 165 x 3mm (9 x 6.5 x 0.1 in.) and 579.4 grams (1.25 lbs)
Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 20 Rockefeller Plaza 10020 New York USA | ||||||||||||||
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Phone | +1 212 636 2000 | ||||||||||||||
Fax | +1 212 636 4930 | ||||||||||||||
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase | ||||||||||||||
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Postal service Courier service pickup by yourself | ||||||||||||||
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Wire Transfer | ||||||||||||||
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