GLORIETA MOUNTAIN PALLASITE — A SUPERB COMPLETE SLICE FROM THE SCHONER MASS

The complete slice of Glorieta Mountain now offered was adjacent to the slice whose image served as the frontispiece of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Meteorites. Less than 0.2% of all meteorites are pallasites — the most resplendent of all meteorites — and Glorieta Mountain is the most famous American pallasite. In 1965 the "Father of Meteoritics", Harvey Nininger, befriended a teenaged Steve Schoner and informed him of the small meteorites found on Glorieta Mountain in northern New Mexico. Years later, Schoner's recovery of tiny pallasitic fragments fueled his belief in the existence of a far larger mass — a Holy Grail to meteorite enthusiasts. After seventy searches of two to three weeks each over a period of 15 years, Schoner's efforts finally paid off. The stunning specimen now offered is from the 20 kg meteorite recovered by Schoner. As a result of the material lost from cutting, grinding and polishing, only 11 kg of fine specimens from this historic mass exist. While pallasites are extremely rare, Glorieta Mountain is rarer still because it is chemically and morphologically anomalous. It also has a relatively high abundance of iron sulfide (the mineral troilite), leading researchers to classify Glorieta as an anomalous member of the main pallasite group.