Study of Dronino Iron Meteorite Weathering in Clay Sand Using Mössbauer Spectroscopy

Abstract

Weathering products of two fragments of Dronino iron ungrouped meteorite found in the wet and drier clay sand were studied using X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution. The products of metal oxidation in the internal and external surface layers were different for both fragments. The weathering products in fragment found in the wet clay sand contain magnetite (Fe3O4), maghemite (γ-Fe2O3), goethite (α-FeOOH) and probably ferrihydrite (5Fe2O3∙9H2O) while those in fragment found in drier clay sand contained ferric hydrous oxides (FeOOH) and siderite (FeCO3) mainly. Concretions found near the first fragment contain ferric hydrous oxides (FeOOH) mainly. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.