The 1,212 g specimen, featured in the accompanying photographs, is a complete slice measuring 355mm x 245mm sectioned from the center of the main mass along the longest axis. The preliminary data indicates that Richfield is highly shocked. Based upon the mosaicism of the pyroxenes and olivines, it is shock stage S4. The terrestrial age of Richfield is unknown, but it is not a fresh fall. However, oxidized fusion crust is visible in small patches.
Chondrules are abundant throughout.
They range from submillimeter in size to 5 millimeter diameters. The light and dark gray structures are mixed randomly throughout the specimen with diffuse boundaries between the two. Curiously, embedded within all lithologies are 1 to 2 mm diameter jet-black, glassy inclusions. If one looks at a prepared section of the Richfield meteorite, one can see the many areas of interest it offers to researchers. As chondrites are the only rocks that can be traced back through time to the birth of our solar system, they carry a record of the conditions present during their formation.