Abstract
The concept of a cosmic-ray exposure (CRE) age for a meteorite is based on a simple but useful picture of meteorite evolution, the one-stage irradiation model. CRE ages have implications for several interrelated questions. From how many different parent bodies do meteorites come? How well do meteorites represent the population of their source region? How many distinct collisions on each parent body have created the known meteorites of each type? How often do parent bodies collide? How big and how energetic were the collisions that produced meteoroids? What factors control the CRE age of a meteorite and how do meteoroid orbits evolve through time? This chapter touches on these questions as it examines the data. In recent years, CRE ages also have become important for interpreting small variations in the abundances of stable isotopes.
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