The Kumtag meteorite strewn field

Ke Du,Thomas Smith,Dongliang Zhang,Ingo Leya,Peng Wang,Shijie Li

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2021.02.020

Abstract

The Kumtag meteorite strewn field was found in the Kumtag desert, 132 km south of Hami city in the Xinjiang province, China. It is an ellipse of 2.5 × 7.9 km, with a long axis extending along the northeast-southwest direction. The largest individual meteorite of the strewn field weighs about 10 kg; the smallest individual has a mass of only 27 g. In total, more than 100 individuals with a total mass of more than 180 kg were collected. The location and the distribution of the fragments suggest that the Kumtag meteoroid entered the atmosphere in the direction Northeast-Southwest. All meteorites collected in this strewn field are samples from the same unique meteorite shower. The Kumtag meteorite is an H5 ordinary chondrite with a shock stage S2, and a weathering grade W2. The cosmic ray exposure age of Kumtag is 6.7 ± 0.8 Ma, which is rather typical for H chondrites and which indicates that Kumtag was derived from the massive impact event on its parent body ~7 Ma ago. A significant amount of He has been lost during certain unknown processe(s) before the Kumtag meteorite was ejected from its parent body.

Highlights

A meteorite is an extraterrestrial rock surviving its fall through the Earth atmosphere, which can provide crucial information about the early solar system and about the dynamics of small bodies in the solar system
The cosmic ray exposure age of Kumtag is 6.7± 0.8 Ma, which is rather typical for H chondrites and which indicates that Kumtag was derived from the massive impact event on its parent body ~7 Ma ago
Meteorites found in Antarctica and hot deserts make up 55% and 45%, respectively, of all meteorites currently in our collections (Meteoritical Bulletin Database)

Summary

Introduction

A meteorite is an extraterrestrial rock surviving its fall through the Earth atmosphere, which can provide crucial information about the early solar system and about the dynamics of small bodies in the solar system. All meteorites collected in this strewn field are samples from the same unique meteorite shower. We will report the petrological characteristics and the cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of representative meteorites from this strewn field.

Results

Conclusion