The irons of Ziz, IAB
Ziz, otherwise known as Northwest Africa 854, is a beautifully fresh iron meteorite from Algeria. It is chemically similar to Canyon Diablo, but that is where the similarities end.
Here’s the fairly nondescript writeup:
Ziz was a fairly small fall, with a total known weight of ~100 kilograms ± 20 kilograms. We were lucky enough to be able to obtain most of the larger specimens, but a 23 kilogram individual was slabbed. Since all of the other large specimens fit together, despite having experienced significant ablation, we surmise that the final large mass would have tied the rest together.
No photos were taken of the 23 kg mass before it was cut.
Below are pictures of individuals: 23, 21, 14, 4, and 2 kilograms, and some smaller ones. The 21 and 4 kg masses fit together, and the 23 and 14 kg masses fit together.
The last images here show two more individuals that broke apart in the atmosphere, and fit together. They never should have met. We purchased our first Ziz specimen from Michael Farmer in December of 2000. It weighed 173 grams. At the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in 2011, Ali Hmani had several beautiful individuals of Ziz on hand, apparently from a locked safe that he had only recently been able to open. An oriented one stood out, with a ripped face. After returning home, Peter remarked that he wondered if the new 335 gram specimen might fit to any of the other specimens. I immediately fetched UZiz1: