Springwater

Scientific Name: Pallasite (stony-iron)
850 grams
Image Number: ROM2008_10166_5

The Springwater is a rare class of meteorite known as a “pallasite” or a stony-iron. Pallasites are named after Peter Pallas, who described the first such meteorite in 1776. Most meteorites are of two basic types: those composed of a mixture of silicate and other non-metallic minerals are called “stony meteorites”, and those composed almost entirely of iron-nickel alloys are called “iron meteorites”. Pallasites are intermediate to the two types—containing both iron-nickel alloys and the silicate mineral olivine; they may be evidence of an intermediate zone between crust and core in parent asteroids.