[meteorite-list] Lucky Hill IIIAB Iron

From: bernd.pauli_at_paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:49 2004
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000001D00001BD7_at_paulinet.de>

BUCHWALD V.F. (1975) Handbook of Iron Meteorites, Volume 2, pp. 788-789:

Lucky Hill, Jamaica
17=B0 54' N, 077=B0 38' W
Medium octahedrite, Om.

History

Little is known of this heavily weathered meteorite. According to Fletcher (Introduction
to the Study of Meteorites, editions 1886, 1888, 1894) the mass was found in 1885 at
Lucky Hill, St. Elizabeth and was presented by the Governors of the Jamaica Institute,
in Kingston, to the British Museum. The following is an excerpt from a handwritten entry
in the acquisition record book of the Institute of Jamaica, Kingston, containing a prelimi-
nary report of the Island Chemist: " Found in digging yams in garden in front of house,
about two feet deep, April l7th, 1885. Presented by (the finder) Philip Sterling, Lucky Hill,
Bellevue, St. Elizabeth. - Received in three pieces which fitted together showing they were
the three fragments of one stone. They weighed respectively 25 lbs, 11 lbs, 8 lbs., totalling
44 lbs. The small fragments weighed 9 ozs. so that the whole stone before it was broken
must have weighed over 45 lbs. (20.5 kg). The outside of the stone appeared to be hematite,
the portion within the outer skin - proved to be magnetic oxide of iron. - The mass was made
up of either tetra- or octahedral crystals, some nearly 3/4 inch in length of edge. These crystals
when not tarnished were of almost silver whiteness, they easily cleaned yielding thin plates,
and proved to be iron with a little nickel."
The coordinates of the place have been given differently by Brezina (1896), Ward (1904a)
and Hey (1966). Those above are as reported by the last mentioned.

Collections

London, British Museum (4,640 g, probably the 11 lb fragment),
London, Museum of Practical Geology (3.2 kg, probably the 8 lb fragment)
Berlin (64 g), Chicago (51 g), Washington (40 g), Vienna (21 g).
Smaller fragments are present in many collections, but all specimens
appear to be extremely weathered.

Analysis

No analytical work has been reported because of the bad state of the material.

Description

The three fragments in the U.S. National Museum are oxidized fragments with indistinct
octahedral outlines. They contain a few specks of unaltered metal, insufficient, however,
for any description. The specific gravity is about 4.2 g/cm^3. The 4.6 kg in the British
Museum consist of similar weathered fragments, ranging from powder size to 4x2x2 cm
in size. Unweathered metal is apparently inside some fragments and should be examined.

Specimens in the U.S. National Museum in Washington:

Three weathered fragments of respectively
15, 21 and 3.8 g (nos. 2888 and 2889).
Received on Sat 13 Mar 2004 04:05:53 PM PST