Two million-year long meteorite record found in Atacama Desert, Chile 25MAY2019

 Two million-year long meteorite record found in Atacama Desert, Chile

Oldest meteorite collection on Earth found in one

of the driest places, Geological Society of America

Sciencedaily, May 23, 2019

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190523130200.htm

Earth's Oldest Meteorite Collection Just Found

in the Driest Place on the Planet

By Brandon Specktor, May 24, 2019

https://www.livescience.com/65558-atacama-desert-has-meteors-for-days.html

The paper is:

A. Drouard, J. Gattacceca, A. Hutzler, P. Rochette, R.

Braucher, D. Bourl??s, ASTER Team, M. Gounelle, A.

Morbidelli, V. Debaille, M. Van Ginneken, M.

Valenzuela, Y. Quesnel, R. Martinez. The meteorite

flux of the past 2 m.y. recorded in the Atacama

Desert. Geology, May 22, 2019. Open Access

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/570818/the-meteorite-flux-of-the-past-2-m-y-recorded-in

https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.12644

Yours,

Paul H.

New Atacama Desert Meteorite Stewnfields Paper Published

Paul bristolia at yahoo.com
Thu Aug 30 09:10:41 EDT 2007

Dear Friends,

There is an interesting peer-reviewed paper in the October issue
of the "Journal of Arid Environments", which provides a detailed
analysis of 62 non-paired meteorites found in the Atacama Desert
of Chile. The paper is:

Munoza, C., N. Guerraa, J. Martinez-Friasb, Author, R. Lunarc
and J. Cerdaa, 2007, The Atacama Desert: A preferential arid region
for the recovery of meteorites—Find location features and strewnfield
distribution patterns. Journal of Arid Environments. vol. 71, no. 2,
pp. 188-200.

Among other analyses, they mapped the principle strewnfield
distribution patterns and summarized the general nature of their
character. They found that these finds typically:

(1) showed more than a quarter of their body exposed;

(2) underwent some sign of terrestrial weathering;

(3) stone meteorites have a brownish desert-varnish on hand specimen;

(4) are non-oriented pieces;

and (5) are commonly members of a greater mass distributed in a
certain place.

The Atacama Central Depression was where the most meteorites
were found and the distribution of saline deposits influenced the
weathering and preservation of meteorites.

Best Regards,

Paul H.