Discovery Of Meteorites Research Articles

The meteoritic record of Arabia

Meteorites provide a wealth of information about the origin of the Earth and the solar system. Systematic searches have proved successful in cold and hot desert areas. Meteorite finds are favoured in areas with light-coloured surfaces that have been stable over tens of thousands of years and in hyper-arid climates. The deserts of Arabia are well suited for the search for meteorites. Following the first finds by explorers in the 1930s, and during oil exploration in the 1950s, a significant number of finds have been recorded in Oman since 1999, with more than 4000 meteorites currently recorded. Exploratory searches in Saudi Arabia have also shown a significant potential for meteorite discoveries. A collaborative Omani-Swiss search project was initiated in 2001 and 23 search campaigns since then have yielded more than 7300 samples, including meteorites from the Moon and Mars and, 37 strewn fields. Arabia has the potential to become one of the key regions for meteorite recovery and future research. Only three confirmed (Wabar, Saqqar and Jebel Waqf as Suwwan), several suspected and some dubious impact structures have been reported. The Wabar impact locality in Saudi Arabia features impact craters in dune sands, shocked and melted sand, and finds of several large meteorites.

Extremophiles in Space Exploration.

In the era of deep space exploration, extremophile research represents a key area of research w.r.t space survival. This review thus delves into the intriguing realm of 'Space and Astro Microbiology', providing insights into microbial survival, resilience, and behavioral adaptations in space-like environments. This discussion encompasses the modified behavior of extremophilic microorganisms, influencing virulence, stress resistance, and gene expression. It then shifts to recent studies on the International Space Station and simulated microgravity, revealing microbial responses that impact drug susceptibility, antibiotic resistance, and its commercial implications. The review then transitions into Astro microbiology, exploring the possibilities of interplanetary transit, lithopanspermia, and terraforming. Debates on life's origin and recent Martian meteorite discoveries are noted. We also discuss Proactive Inoculation Protocols for selecting adaptable microorganisms as terraforming pioneers. The discussion concludes with a note on microbes' role as bioengineers in bioregenerative life support systems, in recycling organic waste for sustainable space travel; and in promoting optimal plant growth to prepare Martian and lunar basalt. This piece emphasizes the transformative impact of microbes on the future of space exploration.

The discovery of meteorites near the Yamato Mountains: How the 1969 discoveries changed planetary science

The discovery of meteorites near the Yamato Mountains: How the 1969 discoveries changed planetary science

Surprising meteorite discovery points to early solar system chaos

Surprising meteorite discovery points to early solar system chaos

Geochemistry of Martian basalts with constraints on magma genesis

Over the past decade, our knowledge of the geochemical and mineralogical diversity of Martian rocks has greatly increased. Rocks on the surface of Mars are older than most Martian meteorites and have a wider range in bulk chemistry (higher SiO2, higher total alkalis, and lower MgO contents). Recent Martian meteorite discoveries (NWA 7034, NWA 7635, and NWA 8159) are also significantly older than the shergottites and NWA 7034 contains clasts which have a similar range in chemistry of the surface basalts. In this invited review, I summarize what is known about the bulk chemistry (major elements) of Martian igneous rocks and use the chemistry to constrain the formation conditions in the interior, and how these conditions have changed through time.The basalts at Gale Crater are consistent with forming from a metasomatized mantle source which affected not only the chemistry of the basalts, but also the formation conditions. Basalts at Gusev Crater, Bounce Rock at Meridiani Planum, and those basalts not affected by metasomatism like those at Gale Crater have a mantle potential temperature of ~1450°C for the Noachian. Conversely, Martian shergottites have a much higher mantle potential temperature (~1745°C), which has always been problematic to explain for such young rocks. New formation conditions calculations are consistent with previous models of formation by a hot mantle plume, but solve the pressure of formation paradox from the previous model. Combining the calculations for mantle potential temperature with previous estimates for GRS measurements of surface volcanics from the Hesperian and Amazonian, I calculate a baseline cooling curve and mantle melting conditions for the Martian interior through time.

Meteorites and possible meteorite impact features in Kansas

Recent meteorite discoveries in Kansas suggests that many more than the 142 recorded ones are present and yet to be located. Meteorites have been recorded in two-thirds of the Kansas 105 counties, with most of them from the western part of the state. The Brenham meteorite fall at Haviland in Kiowa County is the best known and most complete recorded fall. The site has produced the world's largest oriented pallasite at 1400 pounds and countless fragments have been located and recorded. Locally meteors have been observed and heard and some of them have scattered fragments over a considerable area. The meteorites dated are about 4.6 billion years old, but the Norton County fall dated slightly more than 5 billion years, which if correct would make it one of the oldest known objects in the solar system.

Nickel on Mars: Constraints on meteoritic material at the surface

Impact craters and the discovery of meteorites on Mars indicate clearly that there is meteoritic material at the Martian surface. The Alpha Particle X‐ray Spectrometers (APXS) on board the Mars Exploration Rovers measure the elemental chemistry of Martian samples, enabling an assessment of the magnitude of the meteoritic contribution. Nickel, an element that is greatly enhanced in meteoritic material relative to samples of the Martian crust, is directly detected by the APXS and is observed to be geochemically mobile at the Martian surface. Correlations between nickel and other measured elements are used to constrain the quantity of meteoritic material present in Martian soil and sedimentary rock samples. Results indicate that analyzed soils samples and certain sedimentary rocks contain an average of 1% to 3% contamination from meteoritic debris.

Interpreting ancient ice in a shallow ice core from the South Yamato (Antarctica) blue ice area using flow modeling and compositional matching to deep ice cores

We explore methods of dating a 101 m ice core from a bare ice ablation area in the Yamato Mountains, Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. There are two unknowns, the age of the ice at the surface and the age spanned by the core. The ice crystal growth rate was used to estimate the age span of the core at about 5 kyr. CO2, CH4 and N2O data on the core were compared with well‐dated records from deep cores, leading to two plausible matches, both within isotope stage C. Detailed comparison of high‐resolution DEP records from this core and the Dome Fuji core support the 55–61 kyr BP fit best. Oxygen isotope values in the core were then used to constrain the source elevation of the snow in the core, and hence the velocities in a simple flow line model. We inverted the ice core surface age, age span and origin site and their confidence intervals in a sensitivity study of flow model parameter space. The flow line model predicts good matches to the core by reducing glacial flow rates to 70% of present‐day, accumulation rates by 45% with 10% confidence intervals. The modeled surface age for the whole meteorite field yields maximum surface ages of about 90 kyr, which is consistent with known, but poorly constrained, tephra dating, meteorite terrestrial ages and the frequency of meteorite discoveries. This approach can be used quite generally to link deep ice cores to surface outcrops on blue ice fields.

The History of Astrophysics in Antarctica

AbstractWe examine the historical development of astrophysical science in Antarctica from the early 20th century until today. We find three temporally overlapping eras, each having a rather distinct beginning. These are the astrogeological era of meteorite discovery, the high energy era of particle detectors, and the photon astronomy era of microwave, submillimetre, and infrared telescopes, sidelined by a few niche experiments at optical wavelengths. The favourable atmospheric and geophysical conditions are briefly examined, followed by an account of the major experiments and a summary of their results.

Atmospheric and oceanic clues to the origin of a habitable world

The Earth is unique as the one planet in our solar system that has hosted abundant life over billions of years. The habitability of our world means that we possess an environment that has sustained stable liquid water over time and was provided early on with ample amounts of organic molecules to form and feed life until photosynthesis took over. The initial conditions required for habitability are not fully understood, but they involve a planet size sufficient to retain water and sustain volatile-recycling tectonics, as well as a planetary system in which water and organics were available for delivery to the growing planet. Our atmosphere and ocean hold clues, largely in the form of isotopic ratios and elemental abundances, to the mechanisms by which water and organics were delivered to the Earth. Yet it remains unresolved as to whether the Earth formed of planetesimals endowed with liquid water or acquired its water from remote sources. The most plausible remote water source is the primordial asteroid belt; comets may have provided the bulk of the organics. To better constrain these sources will require extensive exploration of Mars, comets and asteroids, as well as new meteorite discoveries.

Meteorite discoveries: Challenges of rapid growth and commercialization

Meteorite discoveries: Challenges of rapid growth and commercialization

High-velocity solid ejecta fragments from hypervelocity impacts

The recent discovery of meteorites from the moon and the strong probability that the 8 SNC (Shergottite, Nakhlite and Chassignite) meteorites originated on Mars indicate that large hypervelocity impacts eject some solid debris at very high speed (more than 2.5 and 5 km/sec in the above cases). The standard Hugoniot relation between particle velocity and shock pressure predicts that lunar ejecta should be very heavily shocked (40–50 GPa) and Martian ejecta should be vaporized (100–200 GPa). However, the lunar meteorite ALHA 81005 was in fact subjected to less than 15 GPa, while the most highly shocked SNC meteorite was exposed to ca. 50 GPa, while others showing no detectable shock damage at all. Theoretical work shows that the normal Hugoniot relation doesn't apply in the vicinity of a free surface. The free surface is, by definition, a pressure-free boundary, so shock pressures on it must be identically zero. On the other hand, the acceleration of debris is proportional to the pressure gradient, so that near-surface material may be accelerated to high speed and still escape compression to correspondingly high pressure. This process occurs only in a restricted zone near the free surface. The thickness of this zone is proportional to the rise time of the stress-wave pulse generated by the impact. The rise time of the stress wave generated by a large impact is typically a/v i, where a is the projectile radius and v i its impact velocity. The near-surface zone in this case is comparable in thickness to a fraction of the projectile radius. Since the cratering event itself displaces many thousands of times the projectile mass, the quantity of lightly-shocked, high speed ejecta is small, amounting to only a few percent of the projectile's mass (for ejecta speed>few km/sec). The fastest solid ejecta leave at about 1/2 the impact velocity. Although the total quantity of high speed solid ejecta is thus small in comparison to the total crater ejecta, it is significant because no other process yields such high velocity fragments. Many meteorites appear to be near-surface samples of their parent bodies (many are regolith samples and one is a vesicular lava) and so may have been ejected by this process.

Antarctic meteorites: Samples of the solar system

The study of extraterrestrial materials by geochemists and geophysicists has been focused on a relatively small number of meteorites since the late fifteenth century. Many of the specimens studied through the years had been weathered or otherwise contaminated at the time they were collected on the ground. It has been especially significant, therefore, that since 1969, when Japanese scientists first reported discovery of meteorites protected within the ice flows in Antarctica, nearly 3 times the total number of specimens that existed at that time have been recovered. Expeditions from Japan, and more recently from the United States, have now recovered a total of 6000 new specimens from Antarctica, stimulating many new areas of study for the solar system sciences. Of these, more than 1000 specimens were collected by the American expeditions in only three field seasons. Already several unique meteorite varieties have been identified, the rare Shergotty‐type being a good example.

Index of Australian meteorites

Abstract A new compilation of Australian meteorite discoveries suggests that many meteorites remain to be discovered by field geologists and others, in outback areas of Australia.

Opportunity for Meteorite Discovery Abounds across Vast American Lands

Opportunity for Meteorite Discovery Abounds across Vast American Lands

MOUNTING PROBLEMS IN THE NAMING OF METEORITE DISCOVERIES

One of the most important steps in the recovery and study of meteorites is the concise naming of each fall so that confusion of one fall with another is avoided. The presently‐used system of naming meteorite falls has been arrived at through an evolutionary process spurred on by necessity. The evolutionary history of the naming of meteorite falls is briefly sketched. Current naming practices are defined and the mounting problems of the present system are discussed. Measures for forestalling growing confusion in the naming of contiguous and overlapping falls, based upon a partial survey of curators of meteorite collections, are presented. A suggestion for the elimination of confusion in the dating of meteorite discoveries is included

Discovery of Meteorites near Yamato Mountains, East Antarctica

Discovery of Meteorites near Yamato Mountains, East Antarctica

The Fall and the Discovery of Meteorites in the Past Ten Years, 1953 – 1963

AbstractData on the 64 new meteorites which fell or were discovered in the past ten years are analyzed in terms of type, weight, number per year, and geographic distribution. The type and mass distribution of 76 meteorites not entered in the Prior‐Hey catalogue before 1962 is also presented.

The Odessa, Texas, Siderite (ECN =+ 1025,318)*

AbstractThis paper presents certain historical facts relating to the discovery of meteorites in the neighborhood of the Odessa, Texas, Meteorite Crater; a discussion of the distribution and other characteristics of the meteoritic materials so far recovered by surface and subsurface search at that crater; a detailed mineralogical and metallographic study of the metallic phase of the meteorite; and chemical and radiochemical analyses of the sideritic material. The results of the investigation, insofar as they relate to the unaltered nickel‐iron, are consonant with the classification of Odessa as a coarse octahedrite (Og). Two (2) figures and 2 tables are given.

A Method for Permanently Marking the Exact Locations of Meteorite Discoveries

AbstractA method for permanently marking the exact location of each meteorite discovered, and a plan for the construction and erection of a convenient type of permanent marker, similar to those in use by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, are described.