[meteorite-list] The Orgueil meteorite: 150 years of history

From: Shawn Alan <shawnalan_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 20:37:32 -0700
Message-ID: <20141209203732.e8713c95af9984a493c5db01816d4c10.abfa47fbd7.wbe_at_email22.secureserver.net>

Hello Listers

If you have MAPS you should read this, and if you don't, try to get the
PDF of this file or find someone that can loan the MAPS to you on the
Orgueil meteorite fall 150 years ago. Down below is an abstract of the
paper and a link to the whole article.

Enjoy :)

Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html
Website http://meteoritefalls.com

Abstract



The Orgueil meteorite: 150 years of history

Matthieu Gounelle1,2,* and
Michael E. Zolensky3

Article first published online: 16 OCT 2014

DOI: 10.1111/maps.12351


Abstract


The goal of this paper is to summarize 150 yr of history of a very
special meteorite. The Orgueil meteorite fell near Montauban in
southwestern France on May 14, 1864. The bolide, which was the size of
the full Moon, was seen across Western France, and almost immediately
made the news in local and Parisian newspapers. Within a few weeks of
the fall, a great diversity of analyses were performed under the
authority of Gabriel Auguste Daubr?e, geology professor at the Paris
Museum, and published in the Comptes Rendus de l'Acad?mie des Sciences.
The skilled scientists reported the presence of iron sulfides, hydrated
silicates, and carbonates in Orgueil. They also characterized ammonium
salts which are now gone, and observed sulfates being remobilized at the
surface of the stone. They identified the high water and carbon
contents, and noted similarities with the Alais meteorite, which had
fallen in 1806, 300 km away. While Daubr?e and his colleagues noted the
similarity of the Orgueil organic matter with some terrestrial humus,
they were cautious not to make a direct link with living organisms. One
century later, Nagy and Claus were less prudent and announced the
discovery of ?organized? elements in some samples of Orgueil. Their
observations were quickly discredited by Edward Anders and others who
also discovered that some pollen grains were intentionally placed into
the rock back in the 1860s. Orgueil is now one of the most studied
meteorites, indeed one of the most studied rocks of any kind. Not only
does it contain a large diversity of carbon-rich compounds, which help
address the question of organo-synthesis in the early solar system but
its chemical composition is also close to that of the Sun's photosphere
and serves as a cosmic reference. Secondary minerals, which make up 99%
of the volume of Orgueil, were probably formed during hydrothermal
alteration on the parent-body within the first few million years of the
solar system; their study is essential to our understanding of
fluid?rock interaction in asteroids and comets. Finally, the Orgueil
meteorite probably originated from a volatile-rich ?cometary? outer
solar system body as indicated by its orbit. Because it bears strong
similarities to other carbonaceous chondrites that originated on dark
asteroids, this cometary connection supports the idea of a continuum
between dark asteroids and comets.


link:
http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1111%2Fmaps.12351?r3_referer=wol&tracking_action=preview_click&show_checkout=1
Received on Tue 09 Dec 2014 10:37:32 PM PST