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Chinga (Tanna Tuva, Turvinskaya, USSR) IVB anom, Ataxite (iron) Found 1913

This is a rare class of iron meteorite called an Ataxite - the word ataxite means "without structure". Whereas octahedrites have a nickel content ranging from about 6.5% to around 13% and show a Widmanstatten pattern when etched with acid, the nickel content in ataxites is beyond this maximum and usually shows little or no visible structure after etching. The nickel in Chinga has been measured at 16.38%.

Several masses totalling about 80Kg were found in the Chinga stream, a tributary of the Upper Yenisei from the Tanno-ola Mountains and recognised as meteoritic in 1913. Some specimens show a "torn" appearance, characteristic of iron meteorites associated with impact craters such as Canyon Diablo and Henbury. It is considered probable that the Chinga iron meteorites are associated with an impact crater that has largely disappeared through weathering and erosion, or has perhaps just passed unnoticed.

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