Iron Meteorite — IC North Yilgarn, Western Australia (29°27' S, 119°43' E)

In a remote, largely inaccessible region in the southwest corner of Australia about 250 miles from Perth, the Mount Dooling meteorite was first discovered in 1909 by the gold prospector, A. P. Brophy. Mount Dooling is a member of an exclusive club: one of the smallest groups of iron meteorites, the IC group, which contains only 13 members. In the specimen now offered, large metallic grains appear interwoven in a complex array that is specific to the IC group. Because different iron meteorites have different compositions and cooled at different rates, they frequently exhibit distinctly different crystalline patterns — any of which is diagnostic in the identification of an iron meteorite. The latticework in evidence is indicative of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time — millions of years — for the meteorite’s mineral phases to organize into their crystalline habit. The small amount of nickel in Mount Dooling (about 6%) results in the coarse, more abstract pattern seen here than in a Gibeon meteorite (see lots 40 and 41).

At some point, after solidifying, Mount Dooling was shocked; the iron sulfide nodules melted and the kamacite grains developed shock-produced twin lamellae known as Neumann bands. This partial slice evidences the signature latticework of Mount Dooling specimens. Troilite and Neumann bands (the result of a massive collision in interplanetary space) are in evidence. The winding edge of the meteorite’s exterior surface is interrupted by a straight cut at the base. Modern cutting.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.


168 x 196 x 3mm (6.66 x 7.75 x 0.1 in.) and 563.7g (1.25 lbs)