Mundrabilla Meteorite
The Mundrabilla meteorite is an iron meteorite found in 1966. From 1944 a meteorite 'as big as a motor car' was rumourned to be lying somewhere on the Nullabor Plain. After much searching, in April 1966, this and a second meterorite weighing 6.1 tonnes was found less than 200 metres away near Mundrabilla. This larger piece, weighing 12.4 tonnes is the larges meteorite ever found in Australia.
The meteorite is a nickel-iron type, classified as a medium octahedrite (the most common structural class of iron meteorites), with an iron content of 65-75% and nickel 7.8%. Most meteorites come from the Asteroid Belt, about 400 million km out from the Sun. Iron meteorites such as Mundrabilla are thought to have been originally part of the metallic core of an asteroid, broken up through collisions in the Asteroid Belt. Most meteorites are as old as our solar system.
Mundrabilla specimens are known for their distinctively knobby, "knuckle-like" shapes and deep regmaglypts (thumbprint-like indentations) caused by atmospheric ablation, which is the process where solid objects erode, melt, and vaporize due to intense friction and compressive heating upon entering the earths atmosphere.
A meteorite has no in-situ geological context on Earth, as required in most earthcaches. Its significance does not lie in the location where its journey concluded. In this case, that location is here!
Please email me the answers to the following questions:-
1. The meteorite has an iron-nickel compisition. How much nickel by percentage does it consist ?
2. Study the texture of the meteorite. What is the cause of it's appearance?
3. How heavy is the meteorite?
4. Take a picture of yourself with the meteorite and attach to the log to show you were here.
Please note : You are welcome to log this Earthcache after sending your answers to me. If no answers are received, your log will be deleted. Please be mindful of your logs to ensure there are no spoiler images/answers for the questions above.