Meteorite Recon | Witnessed Falls
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Archive

Saratov

Stone, chondrite, L4, W0
Saratovskaya Oblast, Russia
Fall: September 6, 1918
TKW: ~1 MT
Fragment: 2,554 g

October 6, 1918, about 5:00 in the afternoon: Startled by a bright flash, peasants all over the northern counties of Saratov Oblast looked up to what appeared to be a group of fireballs coming from the Samara Oblast and moving to the west in a shallow arc, impressively highlighted by the sinking sun. The sighting was followed by what was described as “a powerful roar”, perceived by some as the advent of the Last Judgement. Two large fragments of the meteorite, reportedly weighing 500 kg each, were later recovered from a depth of 2 meters, one near the village of Dongus in Volsky District, and the second close to a settlement near Petrovsky. According to the reports, a third mass that was seen to fall in the Khvalynsk area on the border of Samara Oblast remains missing to the present day. This specimen is a 2.5 kg Fragment from one of the 500 kg pieces dug out from the Impact pits. Specimen is uncleaned, red Russian soil is still adhering to the fresh fusion crust.

Bruderheim

Stone, chondrite, L6, W0
Near Bruderheim, Alberta, Canada
Fall: March 4, 1960; 08h 06m U T.
TKW: 303 kg
Individual: 107.70 g

Elongated angular mass in the shape of a hammerhead. Apart from a small chip this meteorite is fully coated with a thin black velvet like fusion crust. Bruderheim entered the atmosphere as a detonating bolide creating a flash which was visible for 200 miles and followed by a series of loud detonations heard over an area of 2000 square miles. The fireball travelled on an azimuth of N. 100°, slope 40°, in the direction of the earth’s revolutionary path. The bolide had an initial velocity of 8 – 10 miles per second. The meteorite shower produced an elliptic strewnfield 3.5 miles long and 2.25 miles wide with its long axis N. 80° W. This particular mass was found by Walter Holowaty relatively late in the search campaign. It was one of the last meteorites of the Bruderheim fall recovered during the initial search after the fall and it received the University of Alberta’s collection number B-177 (of 188 initially recovered). University of Alberta trade.

Bensour

Stone, chondrite, LL6, W0
Jebel Bensour, Moroccan-Algerian border
Fall: February 11, 2002
TKW: >45 kg
Individual 43.30 g

Compact chestnut shaped mass covered with thin primary fusion crust. The meteorite shows a delicate webbing of caliche-filled contraction cracks as effect of weathering. The matrix is of bright ashy color with fine uniform grain texture and shows signs of a very fine brecciation. Given the relatively rare type of the meteorite and the fall of the Kilabo LL6 meteorite only five months later in Nigeria, several researchers speculated that both meteorite falls might have been related and perhaps originated from a common meteorite stream (Cole et al.: Kilabo and Bensour: A comparative study of two recent LL6 falls, 2003). However the cosmic ray exposure ages of Bensour and Kilabo were found different (Ustinova et al. 2008). It has been suggested that a possible candidate for the parent body of all LL’s might be asteroid 3628 Boznemcova (1979 WD), though no spectral data yet exists for this object.

Wiluna

Stone, chondrite, H5, W0
5 miles due east of Wiluna township, Western Australia
Fall: September 2, 1967, 10:46 p.m. local time
TKW: 150 kg
Individual: 78.90 g

Nose shaped mass with few small elongated regmaglypts. The flat base of the meteorite is framed by delicate lipping indicating an oriented flight at the time of solidification. The complete specimen is covered by thick dull primary fusion crust. Wiluna fell after a fireball was seen and sonic crackling and hissing were heard by almost the entire population of Wiluna which at the time of the fall gathered in the town’s outdoor movie playhouse. The meteorite shower consisted of more than 1000 stones and produced a strewnfield of four by two miles five miles east of the Wiluna township. The pictured specimen is a remarkably fresh meteorite recovered during the search organized by the Western Australia Museum Perth shortly after the fall. The specimen bears the painted collection number 12934 101 which indicates the 101st individual collected from the Wiluna meteorite fall.

Mount Tazerzait

Stone, chondrite, L5, S1, W0
Agadez District, Republic of Niger
Fall: August 21, 1991, afternoon
TKW: 110 kg
Endcut: 617.00 g

Compact endcut with two cut surfaces, of which one is polished, two broken surfaces and one large surface with original fusion crust. The latter shows light caliche deposits in cracks and cavities. Mount Tazerzait shows an extraordinary lithology. Contrary to most other ordinary chondrites, the material displays very little impact induced shock alteration and a relatively long cosmic exposure age. The most striking difference to common L5 chondrites, is an unusually high porosity of 12.6 percent, with a high amount of vugs in its matrix, often with euhedral to anhedral crystals that have formed in these interstitial pores.

Kunya-Urgench

Stone, chondrite, H5, W0
Dashkhowus Velayat, Turkmenistan
Fall: June 20, 1998, 17:25 hrs local time
TKW: ~ 1100 kg
Fragment: 139.0 g

The spectacular fall of the Kunya-Urgench meteorite was observed by hundreds of villagers in the Dashkhowus Velayat. A large daylight bolide brightened the afternoon sky, and a loud whistling followed by a crashing noise was heard. At 17:25 hrs a large single mass impacted 30-50 m from a group of cotton farmers in a field. The force of the impact shaped a crater, six meters wide and 4 meters deep. Many fragments were collected from the ejecta and a large mass of 900 kg was excavated from the bottom of the pit. The president of the Turkmens, Saparmurat Nijasow, ordered the main mass to be transported to the capital Ashkabat, where he offhandedly named the meteorite after himself, “Saparmurat Turkmenbashy” which can be translated as “Sapamurat, head of all Turkmens”. The preatmospheric mass of the meteorite was estimated 1.5 – 2.5 t, the cosmic exposure age was determined ~42 Ma. (L.L.Kashkarov et al. 2000). See also: V.A.Alexeev, etl.al.: THE KUNYA-URGENCH AND SOME OTHER FRESH-FALLEN CHONDRITES: COSMOGENIC RADIONUCLIDES. In: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXII (03/2001), abstract no. 1024. L.L.Kashkarov et al.: TRACK AND NOBLE GAS INVESTIGATION OF NEW KUNYA-URGENCH H5 CHONDRITE. In: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXI (2000), abstract no. 1397.

Taousz / Breja

Stone, chondrite, L chondrite, publication pending
Moroccan-Algerian border
Fall: May 1st, 2010, 03:00 hrs local time
TKW: ~15 kg
Individual: 130.4 g

Fall-fresh chondrite from the meteorite fall which was observed in Southern Morocco and Algeria on May 1st 2010. Following the appearance of a giant bolide, a meteorite shower had descended near the border of the two countries. The stones recovered were subsequently distributed under the names Taousz and Breja. Taousz meteorites show a marvelous sooty fusion rind with an unparalleled contrast to the luminously bright, particularly fine-grained and slightly greenish shimmering matrix. The 130 g collection specimen shows well preserved impact marks.

Buzzard Coulee

Stone, chondrite, H4, S2, W0
Wilton Rural Municipality, Saskatchewan, Canada
Fall: November 20, 2008, 17:26 MST
TKW: > 41 kg
Individual: 187.0 g

Compact angular mass with convex front and concave base. Apart from a 5 mm chip the 187 g meteorite is completely coated with a rich black fusion crust, which on one surface shows a brownish hue. Buzzard Coulee fell as a meteorite shower after a bright fireball was observed across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on the evening of November 20, 2008. The fireball and subsequent dust trail were recorded by several all-sky and security video cameras. This footage as well as interviews of eyewitnesses constrained the fall region and led to the first meteorites being recovered off the ice of a manmade pond seven days after the fall. At least several hundred specimens were recovered in 2008 and 2009, the largest pieces weighing 13 kg, 6.99 kg and 1.3 kg respectively. The pictured specimen weighs 187 g and was found on April 16, 2009.

Sikhote Alin

IIAB, coarse octahedrite

Sikhote Alin Mountains, Primorsky kray, Russia
Fall: February 12, 1947
TKW: > 20 MT
Individual: 3,600 g

Omega-shaped individual with distinct ablation features and pronounced regmaglypts. The iron meteorite is in uncleaned find condition. Fusion crust is preserved on 80 percent of the meteorite’s surface and shows numerous flowlines, splash marks and melt rims. Shikote Alin meteorite individuals in uncleaned find condition are particularly rare.

Individual 261.90 g

Perfectly oriented individual with conical apex. The flanks are shaped by deep regmaglypts, melt furrows and numerous flowlines.

Allende

Stone, carbonaceous chondrite, CV3
Pueblito de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico
Fall: February 8, 1969, 07:05 GMT
TKW: 2 MT
Individual: 80.0 g

Allende meteorite picked up shortly after the fall. The individual shows thick layered vesicular fusion crust with few flow lines on ~65 percent of its surface. The fractured surfaces display a number of large CAIs. This specimen comes from the collection of the “American Meteorite Laboratory” and bears the Huss-number 103.201.