IIAB meteorites

IIAB
— Group —
The Sikhote-Alin is the largest IIAB meteorite.
Compositional type	Iron
Structural classification	Hexahedrite to Octahedrite
Subgroups	IIA IIB
Parent body	IIAB-IIG
Composition	Meteoric iron (Kamacite + Taenite)
Total known specimens	117 + 1 anomalous

IIAB meteorites are a group of iron meteorites. Their structural classification ranges from hexahedrites to octahedrites. IIABs have the lowest concentration of nickel of all iron meteorite groups. All iron meteorites are derived from the metallic planetary cores of their respective parent bodies, but in the case of the IIABs the metallic magma separated to form not only this meteorite group but also the IIG group.

Iron meteorite groups are designated with a Roman numeral and one or two letters. Classification is based on diagrams in which the nickel content of meteoric iron is plotted against certain trace elements (e.g. gallium, germanium and iridium). Clusters in these diagrams are assigned a row (Roman numeral) and a letter in alphabetical order. The first two cluster of the second row, IIA and IIB, were merged when additional measurements connected the two clusters into one, the IIAB group.

All iron meteorites are made of a native metal called meteoric iron. The concentration of nickel has an influence on the mineralogy of the meteoric iron. During cooling kamacite is exsolved from taenite. The lower the concentration of nickel, the more kamacite is formed. IIABs have some of the lowest nickel concentrations of all iron meteorites. They are in the range of 5.3 to 6.6%. For this reason they mostly consist of kamacite with minor amounts of taenite. The two groups that were merged into the IIAB group had different nickel concentrations and therefore different structural classifications. The IIA group has lower nickel concentrations and forms hexahedrites, the IIB has higher nickel concentrations and forms octahedrites.