Meteorites from the Nullarbor, Australia: An Update

Details Meteorites from the Nullarbor, Australia: An Update Meteorites from the Nullarbor, Australia: An Update

Jan 2000

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000lpico.997...15b&link_type=abstract

Workshop on Extraterrestrial Materials from Cold and Hot Deserts, p. 15

Physics

Meteorites, Chondrites, Australia, Stony Meteorites, Meteoroid Concentration, Paleoclimatology, Mass Distribution, Statistical Analysis, Deserts, Antarctic Regions, Stability

Scientific paper

The gibber plains of the Nullarbor in Australia are important meteorite accumulation sites. Situated on the border between Western Australia and South Australia, the Nullarbor consists of flat-lying limestones of Early Miocene age exposed over a total area of ca. 240,000 sq km and covered with a thin calcareous loam. Prolonged aridity has allowed the accumulation of meteorites in the region, and a physiographically stable surface over the last 30 ka combined with low weathering rates are model circumstances for the estimation of the meteorite flux with time. Moreover, quantification of weathering effects in ordinary chondrites from the Nullarbor is providing a new palaeoclimatic tool. Similar to Antarctica, the masses of most stony meteorites from the Nullarbor are 100 g or less, with a peak in the mass distribution between 10-50 g. Statistical analysis of meteorite types from the Nullarbor shows that stony meteorites are most abundant with chondrites accounting for 92.7% of the total. Only 1.5% of distinct meteorites so far described from the Nullarbor are irons, which is much less than that (ca. 5%) predicted from the modem flux of meteorites. The small number of distinct irons from the Nullarbor is difficult to explain and human interference cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, out of the four irons known, three, Mundrabilla, Haig, and Watson make up more than 99% of the total mass of meteorites collected from the Nullarbor.

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