Balambala Iron Meteorite

Find / Fall: Find – 2018
Location: North-Eastern, Kenya
Classification: Iron, IIF
Total Known Weight: 60.5 kg

Balambala iron meteorite was recognized and purchased in 2018. It had been resting in the ground near a village in North-Eastern, Kenya for as long as the local people can remember. Balambala was given the local name Dhagax Bir which means “metal stone” in the local Somali dialect. Balambala was found as a single mass of 60.5 kilograms. There is little evidence of oxidation other than a minor surface rust. Balambala is a roughly shield-shaped meteorite approximately 33 x 41 centimeters and 10-15 centimeters thick. The surface of the meteorite is covered with large regmaglypts and there are a few spherical holes on one side.

Balambala has a low weathering state and a low shock stage. Etched surfaces of Balambala will often show rounded troilite inclusions, lath-like schreibersite inclusions in swathed kamacite. The bulk of the meteorite is composed of kamacite spindles in a matrix of taenite. The taenite is zoned to higher nickel adjacent to kamacite spindles. Balambala is a type IIF iron based on its high Ge/Ga ratio and high Co content and a fit with regression parameters. No heat alteration was observed in Balambala.

Balambala Iron Meteorite Information