Achondrite – bencubbeniteYobe, Nigeria

Details

COMPLETE SLICE OF THE SINGULAR GUJBA METEORITE
Achondrite – bencubbenite
Yobe, Nigeria
This is a complete slice with characteristic nodules of metal and silicate in ample evidence. The sample shows a NE-SW alignment of nodules, a result of impact compression. Modern cutting.

76 x 69 x 2mm (3 x 2¾ x 1/8in.)
44.6g

Literature

Rubin, A. et al. (2001), “Gujba: a new Bencubbin-like meteorite fall.” Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII.

Rubin, A. et al. (2003), “Formation of metal and silicate globules in Gujba: a new Bencubbin-like meteorite fall.” Geochima et Cosmochima Acta, 67(17), 3283-3298.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

On April 3, 1984 at 6:30 P.M., a large mass burst into Earth’s atmosphere and became a blazing fireball over northeastern Nigeria. The meteorite landed in a cornfield, and the local citizenry broke the meteorite into numerous pieces and carried them away as talismans. Gujba is an exceedingly exotic coarse-grained bencubbinite — of which only a handful are known — and it’s the only observed bencubbinite fall. It is also pristine — the bencubbinite least affected by subsequent impact-induced brecciation and crushing. Gujba is made up of large ellipsoidal metal nodules and even-larger silicate nodules consisting of fine-grained fan-like arrays of pyroxene. It also contains some mineral grains formed at high shock pressure. Gujba is believed to have formed within an impact plume caused by a cataclysmic collision on a chondritic asteroid billions of years ago. Among the most beautiful and unusual-looking meteorites known, Gujba is an artifact from the early history of our solar system.

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