MOUNT DOOLING — PARTIAL SLICE OF EXOTIC AUSTRALIAN IRON METEORITE - photo 1
MOUNT DOOLING — PARTIAL SLICE OF EXOTIC AUSTRALIAN IRON METEORITE - photo 2

MOUNT DOOLING — PARTIAL SLICE OF EXOTIC AUSTRALIAN IRON METEORITE

Lot 38
28.03.2023 11:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 4 788
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 927029
Lot 38 | MOUNT DOOLING — PARTIAL SLICE OF EXOTIC AUSTRALIAN IRON METEORITE
Estimate value
$ 3 000 – 5 000
In a remote, largely inaccessible region in the southwest edge of Australia, the Mount Dooling meteorite was first discovered in 1909 by gold prospector A.P. Brophy. In this highly select example, large metallic grains appear interwoven in a complex array specific to the IC chemical group — one of the smallest groups of all iron meteorites. There are only 13 IC meteorites which implies there are only 13 meteorites known to originate from Mount Dooling’s parent body — an asteroid which broke apart as evidenced by the core sample now offered.

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)
Category:Meteorite
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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28.03.2023
27.03.2023
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