Augustinovka meteorite, Zaporizhzhia Raion, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukrainei

Regional Level Types
Augustinovka meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
Zaporizhzhia Raion	Raion
Zaporizhia Oblast	Oblast
Ukraine	Country

Iron meteorite, octahedrite (IIIAB, Om)
Found 1890; 400 kg on the left bank of the Dnepr river.

A large Fe-Ni mass (~9.6% Ni) was found in loess. The mineralogy cited here is fairly normal for one of the IIIAb irons, but Augustinovka was recently discovered to host xenophyllite, a new Na-iron phosphate. Xenophyllite is one of the latest of several new phosphates that have been discovered in irons and stony irons. Augustinovka contains the common meteoritic phosphide, schreibersite, but apparently there was just enough oxygen available to create this unique phosphate.

The circumstances of its find are reported in Kupffer (1911) and repeated by Yavnel' (1976) as follows:
«Метеорит из Августиновки был открыт в 1890 г. на левом берегу Днепра в балке «Петери» подле деревни Августиновки заключенным в самой верхней части пласта глины на высоте 5 м над основанием балки; сверху прикрыт слоем лёсса в 4 м. Окаймленный толстым слоем ржавчины, он имел вес около 400 кг. Прилегающий к нему слой глины на толщину около 9 см был окрашен зеленым цветом, что и вызвало внимание рабочих, занятых в балке добычей глины. По их словам, еще до 1890 г. при глиняных работах в этой балке попадались куски ржавчины тех же свойств, что окаймляет главный метеорит».

Translation by Paolo Bosio:
"The Avgustinovka meteorite was found in 1890 on the left bank of the Dnepr in the "Peter" ravine, near the village of Avgustinovka, embedded in the uppermost part of a clay seam at a hight of 5 m above the base of the ravine; covered on top by a 4m thick layer of loess. Lined with a thick layer of rust, it weighed ca. 400 kg. The surrounding clay layer, which was coloured green for a thickness of ca. 9 cm, attracted the attention of the workers engaged in clay extraction in the ravine. According to their words, pieces of rust, having the same characteristics of that surrounding the main meteorite, were encountered during clay mining operations in this ravine even prior to 1890".

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References