Barbianello: An ungrouped nickel‐rich iron meteorite found in Italy

Abstract

Abstract-An unusual iron was found in 1960 in Barbianello (northern Italy, Pavia municipality) by a farmer, Clemente Allini, ploughing his fields. Years later, the iron was recognized as a meteorite but not officially classified. Our investigations indicate that Barbianello is a unique nickel-rich ataxite with dark and light regions texturally similar to, but compositionally distinct from, Santa Catharina iron. The light regions are chemically homogeneous, have a Ni content of 27.1 wt%, and a composition similar to irons of group IAB-IIICD. The dark regions are inhomogeneous with Ni ranging from 40 to 58 wt% and oxygen up to 20 wt%. Relics of unoxidized metal and textural relationships indicate that, unlike Santa Catharina, the dark regions result from the oxidation of a metal compositionally distinct from that of light regions.

End-Cretaceous akaganéite as a mineral marker of Deccan volcanism in the sedimentary record

“…Backscattered-electron images of the Antarctic chondrites show that akaganéite occurs preferentially in veins and fissures, as a secondary mineral replacing kamacite 29 . Further evidence of the presence of Ni-containing akaganéite in meteorites was presented from other regions and environments, such as the Campo del Cielo meteorites in Argentina 40 , or the Barbianello meteorite in Italy 41 . The absence of Ni in the composition of our akaganéite as confirmed by SEM-EDS and micro-Raman analyses (Fig.…”

Allabogdanite, the high-pressure polymorph of (Fe,Ni)2P, a stishovite-grade indicator of impact processes in the Fe–Ni–P system

“…This small (860 g) ungrouped iron meteorite was found in 1961 in Barbianello, Pavia Province, Lombardia, Italy, and described by Fioretti and Zipfel 45 . The metal of Barbianello contains ~27 wt.% of Ni and was severely oxidized by the processes of terrestrial weathering.…”

“…The metal of Barbianello contains ~27 wt.% of Ni and was severely oxidized by the processes of terrestrial weathering. Phosphides in Barbianello were described as schreibersite 45 , but in fact are represented by its nickel-dominant analogue, nickelphosphide, (Ni,Fe) 3 P 40 .…”

The catalog of the meteorite collection of the Italian Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato (Italy)

“…As reported in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database (MBD), 42 is the number of meteorites recovered in Italy. Despite their small number, data from several studies suggest that Italian meteorites have represented the core of a vibrant scientific debate over the centuries (Agostini & Fioretti, 2013; Baldanza et al., 1970; Baldanza & Triscari, 1985; Barbieri et al., 1997; Bhandari et al., 1989; Bonatti et al., 1970; Cevolani, 2005; D'Orazio et al., 2004; Fioretti & Zipfel, 2004; Grier et al., 2004; Levi Donati, 1967; Levi Donati et al., 1980; Levi Donati & Jarosewich, 1971, 1972; Levi Donati & Sighinolfi, 1977; Maras et al., 1979; Marrocchi et al., 2020; Marvin & Cosmo, 2002; Moggi et al., 2017; Nozette, 1979; Tinazzi, 1994; Triscari et al., 1993; Zucchini et al., 2018). For example, the meteorite that fell on Siena in 1794 has been defined by Marvin (1995, 1998) as one of history's most consequential falls because the analysis of the recovered samples contributed to the acceptance of meteorites' cosmic origin in the early 1800s.…”