The Beautiful Fukang Meteorite
Popularly known as the Fukang Meteorite, this beautiful gem was found in the mountains of Fukang, China, in 2000 and is estimated to be around 4.5 billions years old. It is also proved that our solar system was also fomed at around the same time, so this beautiful piece of rock gives us an idea of what was going on back then.
The meteorite is a type of pallsite, a stony- iron meteorite, with olivine crystals. The weight of this rock is more than 2000 pounds and was discovered by a Chinese dealer from Xinjiang Province, China. The Fukang pallasite contains large, gem quality olivine, or peridot, in a nickel-iron matrix. Olivines vary in shape from rounded to angular, many are fractured and they range in size from less than five millimetres to several centimetres.
A section weighing a total of 31 kilograms of type specimen is on deposit at the University of Arizona.
This meteorite is a window into our past and gives us the glimpse into the amazing and historic formation of our Solar System.
