Krasnojarsk Pallasite

Krasnojarsk (Pallasite, stony-iron) || found 1749, Russia. A mass of material of about 700 kg was discovered in 1749 on the side of Mount Bolshoi Imir, about 235 km (145 miles) south of Krasnojarsk

The German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas studied in 1772 a large iron mass that had earlier been found in the mountains near Krasnojarsk. This unusual mass contained large olivine crystals set in an iron matrix, strange enough to catch Peter Pallas’ attention.

He thoroughly described the unusual find in one of his reports, not knowing that it was a genuine rock from space. Some decades later, in the early days of meteoritics, it became obvious that Pallas had discovered a new type of meteorite. Thereafter, all similar stony-irons were named for him, and the type specimen of the pallasite group, Krasnojarsk, became known as the Pallas Iron.