Hexahedrite
Sign in to saveHexahedrites are a structural class of iron meteorite. They are composed almost exclusively of the nickel–iron alloy kamacite and are lower in nickel content than the octahedrites. The nickel concentration in hexahedrites is always below 5.8% and only rarely below 5.3%.
Key facts
- Meteorite subdivision.Subdivision
- Structural class
- Meteorite subdivision.Name
- Hexahedrite
- Meteorite subdivision.Image
- Sikhote alin.jpg
- Meteorite subdivision.Image_caption
- Neumann bands in the Sikhote-Alin meteorite
- Meteorite subdivision.Compositional_type
- Iron
- Meteorite subdivision.Group
- <!-- list/link all subgroups of this group as a
- Meteorite subdivision.Subgroups
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- Meteorite subdivision.Composition
- Kamacite
- Meteorite subdivision.Image2
- Meteoric iron phase diagram taenite kamacite hexahedrite.svg
- Meteorite subdivision.Image2_caption
- A phase diagram showing the link between structural and chemical classification. Hexahedrites contain mostly kamacite because their chemistry only allows kamacite as a stable phase.
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Article
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- Chemical classification
- See also
- References
Hexahedrites are a structural class of iron meteorite. They are composed almost exclusively of the nickel–iron alloy kamacite and are lower in nickel content than the octahedrites. The nickel concentration in hexahedrites is always below 5.8% and only rarely below 5.3%.
The name comes from the cubic (i.e. hexahedron) structure of the kamacite crystal. After etching, hexahedrites do not display a Widmanstätten pattern, but they often do show Neumann lines: parallel lines that cross each other at various angles, and are indicative of impact shock on the parent body. These lines are named after politician who discovered them in 1848.