The Dresden (Ontario) H6 Chondrite, Part II: Classification Estimated Fireball Trajectory, and Possible Origin

Mathematics – Logic

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Scientific paper

The Dresden (Ontario) meteorite fell in southwestern Ontario on the early evening of July 11, 1939. We re-examine this historic Canadian fall, consider the mineralogy, physical properties, and bulk chemistry of the meteorite, and estimate its trajectory and pre-atmospheric orbit based on visual accounts of the event. Mineralogical examination of several fragments of the meteorite reveals poor definition of chondrule margins, lack of glass, and the presence of minor feldspar, confirming Dresden (Ontario) to be an H6 ordinary chondrite. The bulk of the stone has undergone a low level of shock (S2) as indicated by generally clean extinction of silicate grains. A 12-g bulk sample of the Dresden (Ontario) main mass has elemental abundances that agree well with the H-chondrite average. The bulk density for Dresden (3.48+/-0.07 g/cm3) and porosity (4.9%) are also typical of H chondrites. Several accounts of the fall event constrain the Dresden fireball to have had a ground projection azimuth of ~050, passing from north of London, Ontario southwestwards toward Dresden. The tightly grouped strewnfield of fusion-encrusted fragments recovered ~10 km southwest of Dresden, Ontario suggests that the fireball trajectory was steep. Dark-flight simulations using the 050 azimuth best reproduce the recovered strewnfield distribution with an entry angle of >70°. The range of potential orbits derived from this inferred steep trajectory is consistent with previous orbits measured for meteorite-producing fireballs, and suggest that the Dresden meteoroid had an Apollo asteroid-type orbit, with a perihelion just inside that of the Earth's and a low-to-moderate inclination. The Dresden (Ontario) H6 chondrite is thus petrologically and dynamically similar to other H chondrites with known orbits. A comparison of the known H-chondrite orbits with a modelled debiased distribution of near-Earth objects indicates that the H chondrites were most likely delivered to the Earth via the v6 and the 3:1 resonances, thus strengthening the dynamical case for the linkage of H-chondrite meteorites with the S-type asteroid 6 Hebe as suggested by Gaffey et al. (1993).

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