High Possil
Collection:
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Object

Fact sheet

High Possil

The High Possil meteorite fell on 5th April 1804 and was recovered in two parts weighing 4.5 kg in total. The fall was heard by a number of people and witnessed by workmen in a quarry who were later able to recover it. The largest remaining fragment of the meteorite weighs 151 gm and is held by Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum. At the time, High Possil was a village on the northern outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland.

The High Possil meteorite is classified as an L6 ordinary chondrite, meaning it has a low iron content (5-10%) and indistinct chondrules that have been metamorphosed under conditions capable of homogenising all mineral compositions. Look in PPL to see olivine and pyroxene crystals and the most indistinct remnants of chondrules (not helped by the thickness of the section). In the reflected light view silvery grey metallic iron and golden yellow troilite are clearly visible. Less easy to see are the dull grey crystals of chromite.

See also:
http://www.bimsociety.org/bim4.shtml

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=11884

Specimen: object movie BM19971, stills Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
Thin section: Sedgwick Museum

Additional images
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
  • Courtesy of Glasgow University: Hunterian Museum
Map
55.905971, -4.256773
Precision:
Good
About this collection

This Collection consists of meteorites that have fallen in Great Britain and Ireland and which are now preserved in museum collections. We have also included samples of the two known meteorite impact deposits in the UK.

The Natural History Museum in London offers more information about meteorites and meteorite categories; there is more information about its meteorite collections here.

Sample details

Type
meteorite
Category
l6
Rock-forming mineral
olivine
pyroxene
feldspar
Accessory minerals
metallic iron
troilite
whitlockite
chromite
native copper
Category guide  
Category Guide
Title
Refers to any word or phrase that appears in the individual rock names. Names are generally descriptive; they allow users to search for broad terms like ‘granite’ as well as more specific names such as ‘breccia’. However, the adjacent descriptions of the specimens captures a wider range of general words and phrases and is a more powerful search tool.
Description
Refers to any word or phrase that appears anywhere in the descriptions of the specimens
Accessory minerals
Minerals that occur in very low abundance in a rock. They are usually not visible with the naked eye and contribute perhapssver, they often dominate the rare elements such as platinum group metals.
Rock-forming minerals
Minerals that make up the bulk of all rock samples and are also the ones used in rock classi?cation.
Timescale
Selecting one or more period, for example 'Jurassic'.
Theme
A term used to group together related samples that are not already gathered into a single Collection. For instance, there is a ‘SW England granites’ theme that includes such rock types as granite, hydrothermal breccia, skarn and vein samples.
Category
A general term used to label a rock sample. It is a useful way of grouping similar samples throughout a collection. Category names are often, but not exclusively, common rock names (e.g. granite, basalt, dolerite, gabbro, greisen, skarn, gneiss, amphibolite, limestone, sandstone).
Owner
The owner of the sample that appears in the collection. For example, NASA owns all the samples that appear in the Moon Rocks collection
We would like to thank the following for the use of this sample: