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Sericho Location 1° 5' 41.16"N, 39° 6' 8.30"E
Eastern, Kenya
Find: 2016
Pallasite
History: In 2016, two brothers were searching for their camels and came across several large, dense stones west of the
village of Habaswein and south of Sericho, Kenya. There are no rocks in this area, so they decided they were meteorites.
They spent several weeks collecting them with engine hoists and moving them to their homes in Habaswein.
Though recognized as meteorites in 2016, the masses had been known to camel-herders for decades.
One village elder said that as a child, he and his brothers would play on top of the stones.
In early January 2017, Michael Farmer received an email showing a photo of giant pallasite weighing 107 kg.
He traveled to Nairobi and purchased this stone. Two weeks later he returned to Kenya with Moritz Karl
and traveled to Habaswein. Here they were shown more than one ton of specimens stacked in the courtyards
of two house compounds. To date, more than 2800 kg has been found.
Physical characteristics: To date, masses ranging from <1 to 500 kg have been found in a strewnfield >45 km long,
starting several km west of Habaswein and south of Sericho in Isiolo County. The smaller pieces were found nearer
to Habaswein, but still in Isiolo County. The villagers continue to find pieces, mostly on the surface.
The majority of the pieces are >50 kg. The meteorites found on the surface show minimal weathering,
with patches of fusion crust on the metal. Most stones are blocky, exhibiting a few broad regmaplypts.
Several flight-oriented specimens were found, including a 129 kg and two 16 kg stones.
Petrography: Slices from several stones show similar metal/olivine ratio, averaging near 70 areal% olivine
and <1 areal % chromite. One 15 ? 21 cm slice shows regions with ~95 areal% olivine. Olivine grains are largely
rounded, less commonly euhedral, and gemmy green to orange. Grains are typically 0.5 to 1 cm across,
though a few range up to 4 cm. One slice shows a 5-cm cruciform-shaped chromite. Metal is dominated by
swathing kamacite around the olivine, with pockets of dark-etching plessite. Rare metal-rich regions
show well-developed Widmanstatten pattern. Accessory troilite and schreiberstite.
No large metal veins or metallic masses have been seen.
Geochemistry: (L. Garvie, A. Wittmann, D. Schrader, ASU) Olivine Fa12.3 0.1, FeO/MnO=57.4 5.4,
Cr2O3=0.03 0.01, n=15; kamacite Ni=7.1 0.6 wt%, Co=0.81 0.02 wt%, P=0.06 0.02 wt%, n=17;
and schreibersite (Fe1.51Ni1.45Co0.01)P, n=3.
Classification: Pallasite, low weathering.
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| Available samples |
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Quantity of medium and small pieces
will be available in January 2027
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One small oriented individual, 0.27 grams, $ 27 sold |
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One small oriented individual, 0.29 grams, $ 29
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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One small oriented individual, 0.39 grams, $ 39 sold |
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One small oriented individual, 1.27 grams, $ 100
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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One small oriented individual, 1.8 grams, sold |
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One small oriented individual, 3.77 grams, $ 40 sold |
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Lot of natural skeletons #1, 25 grams, $ 75
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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Lot of natural skeletons #2, 25 grams, $ 75
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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Lot of natural skeletons #3, 25 grams, $ 75
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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Lot of natural skeletons #4, 25 grams, $ 75
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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Lot of natural skeletons #5, 25 grams, sold |
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Lot of natural skeletons #6, 25 grams, sold |
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Lot of 6 good cleaned pieces, 29 grams, $ 45
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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Lot of 4 good not cleaned pieces, 54.6 grams, sold |
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Lot of natural skeletons and pieces, 56 grams, $ 150
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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Complete endcut, 122 grams, sold |
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Complete endcut, 127 grams, sold |
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250 grams of rusty fragments #1, sold |
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250 grams of rusty fragments #2, $ 80
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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250 grams of rusty fragments #3, sold |
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250 grams of rusty fragments #4, $ 80
WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2027 |
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250 grams of rusty fragments #5, sold |
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250 grams of rusty fragments #6, sold |
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350 grams of rusty fragments, sold |
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1 kilogram of rusty fragments, $ 300 sold |
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Complete not cleaned piece, 4200 grams, sold |
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Complete hammered piece, 5300 grams, sold |
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Complete not cleaned piece, 7700 grams, sold |
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Complete cleaned piece, very good quality, 9100 grams, sold |
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Complete not cleaned siderite (not pallasitic!) piece, 23400 grams, sold |