Flax Creek Meteorite

 In March of 2022, Johnathan Baldwin unearthed a mass weighing 286.2 grams, on his farm near Flax Creek in Crab Orchard, Kentucky. Upon unearthing the specimen, Mr. Baldwin immediately suspected it to be a meteorite based on its magnetism, density, and physical appearance. He contacted the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) on March 17, 2022. A Detailed analysis, including a 2024 University of Kentucky master’s thesis by Ethan S.L. Davis, classified Flax Creek as a medium octahedrite belonging to the IAB complex. 

The significance of the Flax Creek meteorite extends beyond its rarity. Due to Kentucky’s humid climate, iron meteorites rapidly oxidize and deteriorate, making well-preserved finds exceptionally uncommon. Its discovery not only contributes important new data to the global meteorite record, but also offers scientists a rare opportunity to study the composition, thermal history, and violent collisional evolution of primitive planetary bodies from the birth of the Solar System.

Historically, the Flax Creek meteorite stands as one of the first confirmed meteorite discoveries in Kentucky since 1990, marking an important contribution to both regional geology and planetary science.

The Flax Creek Meteorite exhibits a discontinuous Widmanstätten pattern sporadically interrupted by large sections of swathing kamacite and nebulous kamacite grains, of which a subsect are likely asymmetrical extensions of swathing sections. Over 73 % of the kamacite phase has developed well defined subgrain boundaries likely created from secondary stresses resulting in kamacite deformities. These polygonal structures occur in 54 % of kamacite lamellae and 89 % of swathing kamacite. Subgrains range from under 100 µm to over 3,500 µm when measured in their maximum orientations. Swathing kamacite has developed around carbide and phosphide mineral inclusions and makes up over half of the kamacite phase. Kamacite lamellae appear knobby, rounded, and discontinuous. These bands have average widths of 1.2 ± 0.09 mm when corrected for orientation, giving the meteorite a medium, albeit irregular, structure. All forms of kamacite cover 69 % of the section, not including kamacite incorporated in plessite fields.