Complete Slice of Sericho

AN DRAMATIC AND HIGHLY AESTHETIC SLICE OF THE SERICHO PALLASITE

In 2016, two camel-herding brothers stumbled upon a number of large stones west of the village of Habaswein, south of Sericho, Kenya. As there were no other rocks in the area, the brothers decided that these must have been meteorites. Spending several weeks collecting the stones — sometimes using a hydraulic hoist because of their immense size and weight — they moved them into their homes in Habaswein. As it turns out, other locals had known about the stones for decades, and would even play atop them, but they were only recognized as meteorites after their rediscovery in 2016. To date, more than 2.8 tons of Sericho have been found in a strewn field more than 28 miles (45 km) long.

Pallasites such as Sericho are incredibly rare, accounting for .2% — or just 1 out of 500 — of all meteorite finds. The crystals seen in this Sericho slice are the result of small pieces of an asteroid's stony mantle becoming suspended in the molten metal of its iron-nickel core before crystallizing. The handsomely dark crystals of olivine range in hue from dark chestnut to fiery amber, and are more uniformly round or oval than many other pallasites, giving Sericho a pleasingly distinctive look.

REFERENCES:

Meteoritical Bulletin Entry for Sericho