Canyon Diablo vs Campo del Cielo

[bapowellphys]

Greetings all! I am new to meteor collecting and so have naturally recently acquired the unofficial "starter set": a Canyon Diablo and Campo del Cielo sample. I know these are both iron meteorites (IAB), but I am struck by how different they look: the Campo is a lustrous silver, while the Diablo is dark with notable patina (some of the rust could be cleaned off, I gather, but I suspect that the Diablo isn't simply dirty). Can someone tell me the reason for this?
Thanks
Brian

 

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[Red-Coat]

Welcome to the forum Brian. Those are good starters for building a collection.

The Campo del Cielo specimen you have is what's known as a "shattered crystal" and wouldn't have had that appearance as found. These smaller specimens are generated from larger masses to satisfy collector demand and maximise profit by dipping them in liquid nitrogen and then whacking them with a lump hammer. The mass then splits into these clusters which nicely exhibit the interior crystalline structure and both tumble-polished and chemically treated to remove the rust from any portions that had seen environmental exposure.

 

[bapowellphys]

Thanks fo

Welcome to the forum Brian. Those are good starters for building a collection.

The Campo del Cielo specimen you have is what's known as a "shattered crystal" and wouldn't have had that appearance as found. These smaller specimens are generated from larger masses to satisfy collector demand and maximise profit by dipping them in liquid nitrogen and then whacking them with a lump hammer. The mass then splits into these clusters which nicely exhibit the interior crystalline structure and both tumble-polished and chemically treated to remove the rust from any portions that had seen environmental exposure.

Thanks for this explanation. Exactly what I was looking for!!