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ataxite
Sign in to saveAlso known as Ataxites
thumb|The Santiago Papasquiero meteorite, an ataxite found in 1958 in Durango, Mexico. It consists of a finely crystalline mix of [[kamacite & taenite, plus other minor minerals. Santiago Papasquiero is a strange ataxite that appears to be a completely metamorphosed and recrystallized octahedrite. Field of view ~2.5 cm across. This is a cut, polished, nitric acid-etched surface. ]] Ataxites (from Greek meaning "without structure") are a structural class of iron meteorites with a high nickel content and show no Widmanstätten patterns upon etching.
Key facts
- Meteorite subdivision.Subdivision
- Structural class
- Meteorite subdivision.Name
- Ataxite
- Meteorite subdivision.Image
- ChingaMeteorite.jpg
- Meteorite subdivision.Image_caption
- The Chinga meteorite is an ataxite.
- Meteorite subdivision.Group
- IVB or "Iron, ungrouped", occasionally IAB or others <!-- list/link all subgroups of this group as a
- Meteorite subdivision.Subgroups
- -->
- Meteorite subdivision.Composition
- Mainly Meteoric iron, nickel (>18%), no Widmanstätten patterns
- Meteorite subdivision.Image2
- Meteoric iron phase diagram taenite kamacite ataxite.svg
- Meteorite subdivision.Image2_caption
- A phase diagram showing the link between structural and chemical classification.
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Ataxite (Santiago Papasquiero Meteorite).jpg
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Ataxite
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Characteristics
- Classification
- Abundance
- See also
- References
thumb|The Santiago Papasquiero meteorite, an ataxite found in 1958 in Durango, Mexico. It consists of a finely crystalline mix of [[kamacite & taenite, plus other minor minerals. Santiago Papasquiero is a strange ataxite that appears to be a completely metamorphosed and recrystallized octahedrite. Field of view ~2.5 cm across. This is a cut, polished, nitric acid-etched surface. ]] Ataxites (from Greek meaning "without structure") are a structural class of iron meteorites with a high nickel content and show no Widmanstätten patterns upon etching.
==Characteristics== Ataxites are composed mainly of meteoric iron, a native metal found in meteorites that consists of the mineral taenite with minor amounts of plessite, troilite, and microscopic lamellae of kamacite. Ataxites are the most nickel-rich meteorites known; they usually contain over 18% nickel. The high nickel content is the reason that they do not develop a Widmanstätten structure, because in this case kamacite can be exsolved from taenite only at such a low temperature (below about 600°C) where diffusion is already too slow.