H5Bassikounou, Hodh Ech Chargui, Mauritania (15°47' N, 5°54' W)

Details

COMPLETE BASSIKOUNOU METEORITE
H5
Bassikounou, Hodh Ech Chargui, Mauritania (15°47' N, 5°54' W)
Fresh chocolate-colored triangular specimen covered in fusion crust.
71 x 57 x 52mm (2¾ x 2¼ x 2in.)
242g

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

In the southeast corner of Mauritania, extremely close to the Malian border, a bright fireball was observed at 1 P.M. on October 16, 2006. More than 20 stones fell from the sky and formed a strewn field that extended about 8 kilometers across the landscape. The rock from which this meteorite originated was shocked on its parent asteroid; metal and sulfide grains melted and metallic copper grains formed. Before being ejected into an Earth-intersecting orbit, the rock was buried amidst hot impact-generated debris which moderately recrystallized most of the chondrules.

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