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1.
Abstract— The discovery of 154 meteorite fragments within an 11 km2 area of wind-excavated basins in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, permits a new calculation of the accumulation rate of meteorite falls at the Earth's surface. Thermoluminescence dating of the coversand unit comprising the prime recovery surface suggests the maximum terrestrial age of the meteorites to be about 16.0 ka. The 68 meteorite fragments subjected to petrological analyses represent a minimum of 49 individual falls. Collection bias has largely excluded carbonaceous chondrites and achondrites, requiring the accumulation rate derived from the recovered samples to be increased by a factor of 1.25. Terrestrial weathering destroying ordinary chondrites can be modelled as a first-order decay process with an estimated half-life of 3.5 ± 1.9 ka on the semiarid American High Plains. Having accounted for the age of the recovery surface, area of field searches, pairing of finds, collection bias and weathering half-life, we calculate an accumulation rate of 9.4 × 102 falls/a per 106 km2 for falls > 10 g total mass. This figure exceeds the best-constrained previous estimate by more than an order of magnitude. One possible reason for this disparity may be the extraordinary length of the fall record preserved in the surficial geology of Roosevelt County. The high accumulation rate determined for the past 16 ka may point to the existence of periods when the meteorite fall rate was significantly greater than at present.  相似文献   

2.
The gamma‐ray activities of 33 meteorite samples (30 ordinary chondrites, 1 Mars meteorite, 1 iron, 1 howardite) collected during Omani‐Swiss meteorite search campaigns 2001–2008 were nondestructively measured using an ultralow background gamma‐ray detector. The results provide several types of information: Potassium and thorium concentrations were found to range within typical values for the meteorite types. Similar mean 26Al activities in groups of ordinary chondrites with (1) weathering degrees W0‐1 and low 14C terrestrial age and (2) weathering degree W3‐4 and high 14C terrestrial age are mostly consistent with activities observed in recent falls. The older group shows no significant depletion in 26Al. Among the least weathered samples, one meteorite (SaU 424) was found to contain detectable 22Na identifying it as a recent fall close to the year 2000. Based on an estimate of the surface area searched, the corresponding fall rate is ~120 events/106 km2*a, consistent with other estimations. Twelve samples from the large JaH 091 strewn field (total mass ~4.5 t) show significant variations of 26Al activities, including the highest values measured, consistent with a meteoroid radius of ~115 cm. Activities of 238U daughter elements demonstrate terrestrial contamination with 226Ra and possible loss of 222Rn. Recent contamination with small amounts of 137Cs is ubiquitous. We conclude that gamma‐ray spectroscopy of a selection of meteorites with low degrees of weathering is particularly useful to detect recent falls among meteorites collected in hot deserts.  相似文献   

3.
《Icarus》1987,69(3):550-556
A meteorite-dropping event was observed by the camera network in western Canada on February 6, 1980, precisely 3 years after the fall of the Innisfree meteorite. The orbits of the two objects are essentially identical, making this the first observational evidence for multiple falls from the same orbit. Minor differences in the argument of perihelion and longitude of the node were presumably caused by Earth perturbations at times of previous close encounters. An impact location near the town of Ridgedale, Saskatchewan, is indicated with a predicted mass of 1.8 kg for the object. The Ridgedale event was much less luminous than Innisfree, with a peak absolute panchromatic magnitude near −7.5 with no evidence for the multiple fragmentation observed for Innisfree. Considerations of the probability of detecting two related objects with the meteorite camera networks suggest that Innisfree (a brecciated LL chondrite) was a near-surface fragment from a recent parent object with a radius of several tens of meters. A campaign to locate the Ridgedale object is planned since its recovery would allow various comparisons of great interest with the Innisfree chondrite.  相似文献   

4.
In the five years from June, 1967, to June, 1972, a total of 99 meteorites were found in Roosevelt County, New Mexico and in adjoining Curry County. Of this number, 74 were found by one man. The finds include two achondrites, one pallasite, one carbonaceous chondrite, and 95 chondrites. They appear to represent more than 50 separate meteorite falls. The finding of a large number of meteorites in a small area provides data for an estimate of the probable quantity and average size of the meteorite specimens reaching the earth. The problems involved in allocating a total of 17 available local place names among more than 50 meteorite falls are discussed.  相似文献   

5.
Abstract— As of July 2001, 1238 Libyan meteorites have been reported. Most were found in two areas called Dar al Gani and Hamadah al Hamra. Dar al Gani is located on a plateau of marine carbonate rocks with marly components. Eight‐hundred and sixty‐nine meteorites between 6 g and 95 kg totalling 687 kg have been found here but the calculated mean recovery density is comparatively low with one meteorite on 6.5 km2. Dar al Gani is a perfect site for the recognition and preservation of meteorites. The existence of meteorites is the result of a combination of specific geological and geomorphological conditions: there is a bright‐colored, old limestone plateau (<2 Ma), under arid weather conditions over long periods of time, with rapid elimination of surface water if present and low erosion rates. The preservation of meteorites is guaranteed through the absence of quartz sand on the plateau, strongly reducing wind erosion and a basic environment emerging from the carbonate ground retards rusting of metallic meteorite components. A supposed soil cover during pluvial times has probably protected older meteorites and led to a concentration of meteorites of different periods. An evaluation of Dar al Gani meteorites suggests the existence of at least 26 strewnfields and 26 meteorite pairs reducing the number of falls to, at most, 534. Shock and weathering grades as a tool for the recognition of pairings turned out to be problematic, as several strewnfields showed paired meteorites which had been classified to different shock and weathering grades.  相似文献   

6.
Abstract– We describe the geological, morphological, and climatic setting of the San Juan meteorite collection area in the Central Depression of the Atacama Desert (Chile). Our recovery activities yielded 48 meteorites corresponding to a minimum of 36 different falls within a 3.88 km2 area. The recovery density is in the range 9–12 falls km?2 depending on pairing, making it the densest among meteorite collection areas in hot deserts. This high meteorite concentration is linked to the long‐standing hyperaridity of the area, the stability of the surface pebbles (> Ma), and very low erosion rates of surface pebbles (approximately 30 cm Ma?1 maximum). The San Juan meteorite population is characterized by old terrestrial ages that range from zero to beyond 40 ka, and limited weathering compared with other dense collection areas in hot desert. Chemical weathering in San Juan is slow and mainly controlled by the initial porosity of meteorites. As in the Antarctic and other hot deserts, there is an overabundance of H chondrites and a shortage of LL chondrites compared with the modern falls population, suggesting a recent (< few ka) change in the composition of the meteorite flux to Earth.  相似文献   

7.
Abstract— A set of iron meteorites was investigated for Re-Os isotopes and provides a well-defined isochron age of 4.624 ± 0.017 Ba and an initial 187Os/188Os ratio of 0.095636 ± 0.00009. Actual ages may be a few percent lower due to uncertainty on the 187Re decay constant. Within the small sample number presented here, there is no evidence for age differences between classes. A more detailed study of the meteorite Kodaïkanal shows that the metal reservoir of this meteorite formed approximately at the same time as the other iron meteorites, in contrast with the silicate inclusions which display a formation age of 3.67 Ba with all other chronometers. A collisional origin is in agreement with the data on this meteorite. Major secondary events do not affect the Re-Os system at the bulk rock scale in metal as it is the sole significant reservoir of these two elements. A Re-Os and Rb-Sr investigation of meteoritic troilite exhibits disturbed chronometric systems, which we attribute to the terrestrial history of the meteorite.  相似文献   

8.
Abstract– As part of our continuing survey of meteorite physical properties, we measured grain and bulk density, porosity, and magnetic susceptibility for 41 stones from 23 enstatite chondrites (ECs), all with masses greater than 10 g, representing the majority of falls and a significant percentage of all available non‐Antarctic EC meteorites. Our sampling included a mix of falls and finds. For falls, grain densities range from 3.45 to 4.17 g cm?3, averaging 3.66 g cm?3; bulk densities range from 3.15 to 4.10 g cm?3, averaging 3.55 g cm?3; porosities range from 0 to 12% with the majority less than 7%, and magnetic susceptibilities (in log units of 10?9 m3 kg?1) from 5.30 to 5.64, with an average of 5.47. For finds, weathering reduces both grain and bulk densities as well as magnetic susceptibilities. On average, finds have much higher porosity than falls. The two EC subgroups EH and EL, nominally distinguished by total iron content, exhibit similar values for all of the properties measured, indicating similar metallic iron content in the bulk stones of both subgroups. We also observed considerable intra‐meteorite variation, with inhomogeneities in bulk and grain densities at scales up to approximately 40 g (approximately 12 cm3).  相似文献   

9.
The Sutter's Mill C‐type meteorite fall occurred on 22 April 2012 in and around the town of Coloma, California. The exact location of the meteorite fall was determined within hours of the event using a combination of eyewitness reports, weather radar imagery, and seismometry data. Recovery of the first meteorites occurred within 2 days and continued for months afterward. The recovery effort included local citizens, scientists, and meteorite hunters, and featured coordination efforts by local scientific institutions. Scientific analysis of the collected meteorites revealed characteristics that were available for study only because the rapid collection of samples had minimized terrestrial contamination/alteration. This combination of factors—rapid and accurate location of the event, participation in the meteorite search by the public, and coordinated scientific investigation of recovered samples—is a model that was widely beneficial and should be emulated in future meteorite falls. The tools necessary to recreate the Sutter's Mill recovery are available, but are currently underutilized in much of the world. Weather radar networks, scientific institutions with interest in meteoritics, and the interested public are available globally. Therefore, it is possible to repeat the Sutter's Mill recovery model for future meteorite falls around the world, each for relatively little cost with a dedicated researcher. Doing so will significantly increase the number of fresh meteorite falls available for study, provide meteorite material that can serve as the nuclei of new meteorite collections, and will improve the public visibility of meteoritics research.  相似文献   

10.
Abstract— The relative abundance of different compositional types and mass frequency distributions are presented for four meteorite samples (the modern falls, Antarctic finds, Yamato finds and Allan Hills Main Icefield finds). The modern falls sample represents continuous collection of a known number of falls over a short timespan, while the Antarctic samples represent a longer timespan and an unknown number of falls. The Allan Hills Main Icefield sample has many desirable collection characteristics indicating it best represents Antarctic meteorites. By retabulating the modern falls to create a sample with characteristics similar to those of the Allan Hills Main Icefield finds, we can directly compare the two. The mass frequency distributions of Antarctic samples exhibit a tail toward the larger sizes and thus differ from that of the modern falls (which approximates a normal curve). In general, normal and power law models prove to be inadequate to explain the observed mass frequency distributions, possibly because they fail to correctly account for atmospheric and collection effects. Non-parametric statistics show that it is unlikely that the two are good samples of a single steady-state meteoritic complex. In addition, there is an excess in numbers of small H chondrites in Allan Hills Main Icefield finds relative to modern falls which is not easy to explain given modern showerfall rates of occurrence. This supports the view that the delivery of meteoritic material to Earth might be variable over the short timescale represented by these samples.  相似文献   

11.
The rapid recovery of meteorites mitigates the exposure of astromaterials to the terrestrial environment and subsequent contamination. Modern fireball observatories have enabled the more accurate triangulation of fireball trajectories, which has aided in the location of strewn fields, in the case of meteorite-producing events. Despite this advancement, most meteorite searches still use manual searching to locate any meteorite falls, which is often labor-intensive and has a slow coverage rate (km2 day−1). Recent work has begun exploring the application of drone technology to the recovery of meteorites; however, most of this work has focused on falls in arid environments. Our study examines the utilization of drones with thermal imaging technology to aid in the recovery of meteorites that have fallen on a snow-covered field. We created a simulated strewn field that included meteorite specimens as well as Earth rocks with similar properties (“meteowrongs”). Thermal imagery was utilized to determine whether the thermal contrast between meteorites and snow could aid in the identification of meteorites. We found that the thermal contrast was significant enough that meteorites were readily identifiable within thermal images; however, it was not significant enough to distinguish between the meteorites and the meteowrongs. The utilization of thermal imagery in conjunction with visible imagery has the potential to aid in the rapid recovery of meteorites in snow-covered landscapes.  相似文献   

12.
Abstract— Two H4–5 meteorite showers have been reported to have fallen at one month intervals in the Guenie-Gao area, but eyewitness accounts are imprecise. Though subtle mineralogical differences are found between stones with different 21Ne content, these differences are insufficient to confirm that two meteorite falls had occurred.  相似文献   

13.
Meteorite camera networks have provided reliable data on typical orbits for meteorites. Using an adopted distribution of 20 orbits we determine the relative rates of meteorite falls over the surface of the earth taking account of the important effects due to the earth's gravity. The data are then used to study the expected variation in rates as a function of daylight, twilight or night conditions; time of day; season of the year; and geographic latitude. The rates of meteorite falls have a deep minimum near the area of the earth facing the earth's apex but a surprisingly broad maximum on the opposite side, facing the antapex. Twilight rates are lower than average and nighttime rates 3% higher than daytime rates. Minimum rates occur near 6h local time and there is a broad maximum from noon to midnight. Rates are highest near the beginning of spring for either hemisphere and lowest near the beginning of autumn. The decline in rates with increasing latitude is quite moderate. The existing camera networks observe average fall rates at night which are very close to the average rate over the whole earth for the whole year.  相似文献   

14.
Hot and cold deserts have been thoroughly searched for meteorites in the past decades, which has led to a large inventory of classified meteorites. H‐ and L‐chondrites are the most abundant meteorites in all collections, and many authors used the H/L ratio as a characteristic parameter in comparing meteorite populations. H/L ratios (after pairing) vary from 0.90 in observed falls up to 1.74 in El Médano (Atacama Desert). In this study, we investigate the H/L ratio of 965 unpaired H‐ and L‐chondrites collected in Oman and compare this population with observed falls and other hot desert collections. We find a mass dependence of the H/L ratio among hot desert finds and identify mechanisms such as fragmentation during weathering and fall that have an impact on the H/L ratio. We employ the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Mann–Whitney U statistical tests to compare the mass distributions of H‐ and L‐chondrites and to test the relationship between the similarity of mass distributions and the H/L ratio. We conclude that the variations of the H/L ratios observed in various populations are a sampling artifact resulting from secondary effects and observational bias, expressed in differences of the H and L mass distributions which are not observed in falls, and not due to variations in H/L of the meteorite flux. The H/L ratio of 0.90 observed among recent falls is considered as most representative for the overall meteorite flux, at least since the Late Pleistocene.  相似文献   

15.
Abstract— The Meteoritical Bulletin No. 96 contains a total of 1590 newly approved meteorite names with their relevant data. These include 12 from specific locations within Africa, 76 from northwest Africa, 9 from the Americas, 13 from Asia, 1 from Australia, 2 from Europe, 950 from Antarctica recovered by the Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE), and 527 from the American Antarctic program (ANSMET). Among these meteorites are 4 falls, Almahata Sitta (Sudan), Sulagiri (India), Ash Creek (United States), and Maribo (Denmark). Almahata Sitta is an anomalous ureilite and is debris from asteroid 2008 TC3 and Maribo is a CM2 chondrite. Other highlights include a lunar meteorite, a CM1 chondrite, and an anomalous IVA iron.  相似文献   

16.
Chinese and Japanese historical records of daytime fireballs, and world-wide daytime meteorite falls in the catalogue have been investigated. Among them, there are 253 and 104 records of great daytime fireballs in China and in Japan respectively, and 506 meteorite falls in the daytime are recorded in the Catalogue of Meteorites (1985).The same trends of seasonal and daily variations in the flux of daytime fireballs are clearly seen in both Chinese and Japanese records, and then the distributions of the daytime fireballs seem to suggest the association with meteorites and near-earth minor planets rather than with comets.Possible relations with minor planets, such as (1566) Icarus, (3671) Dionysius, (4450) Pan, (4486) Mithra and others are suggested.  相似文献   

17.
Abstract— We present Ne data from plagioclase separates from the solar noble‐gas‐rich meteorite Kapoeta, obtained mainly by in vacuo etching. samples rich in solar gases contain an excess of cosmogenic ne compared to solar‐gas‐poor samples, testifying to an exposure to cosmic rays in the parent body regolith. The 21Ne/22Ne ratio of the excess component is slightly lower than that of the Ne acquired during the meteoroid flight. Model calculations indicate that the observed isotopic composition of the excess Ne can be produced by galactic cosmic rays at a reasonable mean shielding of around a hundred to a few hundred grams per square centimeter. No substantial contribution from Ne produced by solar cosmic rays is needed to explain the data. We therefore conclude that they do not offer evidence for a substantially enhanced flux of solar energetic particles early in solar history, contrary to other claims. This conclusion is in agreement with solar flare track data.  相似文献   

18.
Chinese and Japanese historical records of daytime fireballs, and world-wide daytime meteorite falls in the catalogue have been investigated. Among them, there are 253 and 104 records of great daytime fireballs in China and in Japan respectively, and 506 meteorite falls in the daytime are recorded in the Catalogue of Meteorites (1985). The same trends of seasonal and daily variations in the flux of daytime fireballs are clearly seen in both Chinese and Japanese records, and then the distributions of the daytime fireballs seem to suggest the association with meteorites and near-earth minor planets rather than with comets. Possible relations with minor planets, such as (1566) Icarus, (3671) Dionysius, (4450) Pan, (4486) Mithra and others are suggested.  相似文献   

19.
We report and describe an L6 ordinary chondrite fall that occurred in Ardón, León province, Spain (longitude 5.5605°W, latitude 42.4364°N) on July 9th, 1931. The 5.5 g single stone was kept hidden for 83 yr by Rosa González Pérez, at the time an 11 yr old who had observed the fall and had recovered the meteorite. According to various newspaper reports, the event was widely observed in Northern Spain. Ardón is a very well‐preserved, fresh, strongly metamorphosed (petrologic type 6), and weakly shocked (S3) ordinary chondrite with well‐equilibrated and recrystallized minerals. The mineral compositions (olivine Fa23.7±0.3, low‐Ca pyroxene Fs20.4±0.2Wo1.5±0.2, plagioclase An10.3±0.5Ab84.3±1.2), magnetic susceptibility (log χ = 4.95 ± 0.05 × 10?9 m3 kg?1), bulk density (3.49 ± 0.05 g   cm?3), grain density (3.58 ± 0.05 g   cm?3), and porosity (2.5 vol%) are typical for L6 chondrites. Short‐lived radionuclides confirm that the meteorite constitutes a recent fall. The 21Ne and 38Ar cosmic ray exposure ages are both about 20–30 Ma, similar to values for many other L chondrites. The cosmogenic 22Ne/21Ne ratio indicates that preatmospheric Ardón was a relatively large body. The fact that the meteorite was hidden in private hands for 83 yr makes one wonder if other meteorite falls may have experienced the same fate, thus possibly explaining the anomalously low number of falls reported in continental Spain in the 20th century.  相似文献   

20.
We report on the first meteorite search campaign in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The geology and proximity of our search region suggest that it is the north‐western extension of the Oman meteorite fields. We found 26 ordinary chondrites, bringing the total number of official meteorites from the UAE to 28. The campaign was organized and conducted in close cooperation with the UAE government and the main masses of the meteorites remained in the country where they will become part of an exhibition. The bulk composition of five meteorite and three soil samples indicates an uptake of U, Mo, Sr, Ba, Li, and Pb from the soil into the meteorites during terrestrial weathering. Terrestrial ages determined from 14C decay of 21 meteorites range from recent falls to 24.4 ka, with two meteorites having >37 ka and approximately 39 ka, respectively. Weak correlations between weathering degree, meteorite bulk chemical composition, and terrestrial age suggest highly localized weathering conditions, possibly related to abundant occurrences of sabkhas in the search region.  相似文献   

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