Pontllyfni
Collection:
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Object

Fact sheet

Pontllyfni

After a loud rumble was heard by residents, the Pontllyfni meteorite fell on April 14th 1931. A single stone weighing 157 g was recovered, the remainder probably having fallen into the sea.

Pontllyfni is near Pen-y-groes, Gwynedd, Wales.

The Pontlllyfni meteorite is classified as a Winonaite (S3) - a type of primitive achondrite. Such meteorites may contain relict chondrules. The chondrules are so indistinct that they are difficult to see. Look in PPL to see crystals of pyroxene (rotation 1) and olivine (rotation 2). View in reflected light to see a few grains of metallic iron (silvery grey in colour) and many more grains of the golden yellow sulphide mineral troilite.

Specimen: BM1975,M.6
Thin section: 

Map
53.046683, -4.338055
Description:
Pontllyfni, Wales
Precision:
Moderate
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
Winonaite
Rock-forming mineral
olivine
pyroxene
troilite
metallic iron
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: