[meteorite-list] Campo del Cielo recovered weight

From: bernd.pauli_at_paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Feb 17 11:04:15 2005
Message-ID: <DIIE.00000016000032F2_at_paulinet.de>

Hello Sara and List,

> I am trying to evaluate the total recovered weight for this meteorite.
> In Grady's catalogue (page 126), the addition of the numerous masses
> gives a total of 45 tonnes (approximately). The 37 tonnes that Robert
> Haag tried to buy with no success in 1990 is not cited. Would the real
> total be 82 tonnes? If so, Camp del Cielo would be the heaviest iron
> meteorite recovered (in total mass).

LIBERMAN R.G. et al. (2002) Campo del Cielo iron meteorite: Sample
shielding and meteoroid's preatmospheric size (MAPS 37-2, 2002, pp.
295-300, excerpts from p. 295):

Preatmospheric size - radius larger than 300 cm plus a mass of at least
840000 kg. Iron = 92.7 %, nickel = 6.15 %, cobalt = 0.42 %, carbon = 0.37 %,
phosphorus = 0.28 %. Romana A. and Cassidy W.A. (1972) determined the time
of fall to be ca. 4000 years BP by radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples
extracted from the bottom of one of the craters.

Excavation of two medium-sized craters (crater 9 and 10 - there are more than
20 craters) revealed two pieces of about 5000 kg each buried in one and another
piece of about 36000 kg in the other. Assuming a minimum mass of 5000 kg in
each of the other 18 craters implies a recovered mass of at least 140000 kg
(Cassidy, pers. comm.). This value corresponds to an original meteoroid radius
of at least 160 cm.


Best wishes from
Germany,

Bernd

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Received on Thu 17 Feb 2005 11:04:13 AM PST