I'm new to the forum and have - so far - never been into meteorites. However, last summer on a holiday to the north-west of Ireland, I found a small rock on the beach, that looked somehow intriguing. I kept looking and found two other pieces within an area of about 120 sqm. On the rest of the beach, there were none like them. Partly their surface looked charred and molten, so I came up with the idea of having found pieces of a meteorite.
The pieces (30g in total) were magnetic, so - despite the odds - I started a little research. I found out that actually in 2011 a fireball was observed in the north-west of ireland, near where I found the pieces. I took my research to the next level: A friend of mine, who is an analytical chemist, tried to dissolve a tiny sample with acid to analyze it. For some reason, that did not work out, which - according to him - was strange. Then he used X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy on a larger sample (bottom picture, left piece) to find out more. The result was as follows:
Iron ~ 60 %
Magnesium ~ 16 %
Aluminium ~ 8 %
Silicium ~ 4 %
There were also quantities of about 2 % of each Chlorine, Sulphur an Potassium detected (which might have shown up due to the exposure to the sea). Furthermore, the sample contained smaller quantities of Ta, Zn, P, Cd, Ba (around 0,5 - 1 %) and traces of Sn, Sr, Ag, Cu, Mn, Ti, Zr, Ir, Ca, Cr, U, Au and Th. Other elements (approximately a dozen) were detected as well, but in such low quantities, that those are likely to be irrelevant.
As far as my research goes, the abscence of nickel is a strong point against having found pieces of a meteorite. On the other hand, the alloy of the elements is quite strange and wouldn't be useful for industrial purposes, I was told.
So I am asking your opinion on my find. I won't be dissapointed, if I didn't get lucky - at least I learned a lot about meteorites in the process...
Thank you very much in advance!
Christine
