Mineralogical composition, surface inspection and analysis by Mössbauer spectroscopy to identify a meteorite

A piece of rock belonging to the geological-mineralogical collection of the University of Antioquia, with a metallic aspect and labelled as “meteorite originating from Devil’s Canyon (USA)” was subject to several spectroscopic analysis in order to confirm that it was a meteorite. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) shows that Fe and Ni are present in significant amount. The elemental composition showed the rock to contain 90.63% Fe and 7.35% Ni. The remaining 2% of elements were found to be: Si, Co, P, Al and W. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the major mineralogical phase corresponds to α-Fe. Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) measurements at room temperature indicated three iron sites present: Fe3+, and the others two corresponding to sextets that could be assigned to either kamacite or taenite. The inner surface was analysed using AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy). The topography of selected areas shows roughness values range from 2.99 to 86.80 nm. Finally, the metallographic images of the microstructure of the material were compared with those obtained in 2001 and it was possible to verify and conclude that the rock effectively corresponds to a meteorite. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.