Meteoritics

{{Short description|Scientific study of meteors, meteorites and meteoroids}} {{distinguish|Meteorology}} {{Wiktionary}} thumb | right | Alpha-Monocerotid meteor outburst in 1995 '''Meteoritics'''{{#tag:ref|Originally rarely called "astrolithology".<ref name=journal>{{cite journal|last=Leonard|first=Frederick C.|title=Introducing meteoritics: The Journal of the Meteoritical Society and the Institute of Meteoritics of the University of New Mexico|journal=Meteoritics|date=1953|volume=1|issue=1|pages=1–4|doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.1953.tb01299.x|bibcode=1953Metic...1....1L}}</ref>|group="note"}} is the science that deals with meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids.{{#tag:ref|A meteorite is a solid rock which has landed on Earth after originating in space. It should not be confused with a meteor (a shooting star, caused by an incoming object burning up in the Earth's atmosphere) or a meteoroid (a small body orbiting within the Solar System).<br> <br> When the Journal of the Meteoritical Society and the Institute of Meteoritics of the University of New Mexico first appeared in 1953, it quoted the then accepted definition of meteoritics as ''the science of meteorites and meteors'', but it went on to explain that meteorites at the time included what are now called meteoroids: ''Meteoritics may be defined independently of meteorites and meteors, however, as that branch of astronomy that is concerned with the study of the solid matter that comes to the Earth from space; of the solid bodies of subplanetary mass that lie beyond the Earth; and of the phenomena that are associated with such matter or such bodies.''<ref name=journal/> <br> <br> The term ''meteoroid'' was not defined until 1961 by the International Astronomical Union, and the Minor Planet Center still doesn't use the term.|group="note"}}<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190720191927/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/meteoritics meteoritics] on Lexico.com</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |date=19 December 2012 |title =meteoritics, n. |encyclopedia=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/117479}}</ref> It is closely connected to cosmochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry. A specialist who studies meteoritics is known as a ''meteoriticist''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |date=19 December 2012 |title =meteoriticist, n. |encyclopedia=OED Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/236863 }}</ref>

Scientific research in meteoritics includes the collection, identification, and classification of meteorites and the analysis of samples taken from them in a laboratory. Typical analyses include investigation of the minerals that make up the meteorite, their relative locations, orientations, and chemical compositions; analysis of isotope ratios; and radiometric dating. These techniques are used to determine the age, formation process, and subsequent history of the material forming the meteorite. This provides information on the history of the Solar System, how it formed and evolved, and the process of planet formation.

==History of investigation== {{see also|Meteor#History}} {{stub section|date=September 2025}} Before the documentation of L'Aigle it was generally believed that meteorites were a type of superstition and those who claimed to see them fall from space were lying.

In 1960 John Reynolds discovered that some meteorites have an excess of ¹²⁹Xe, a result of the presence of ¹²⁹I in the solar nebula.<ref name="Reynolds 1960">{{cite journal|last=Reynolds|first=J.|title=Isotopic Composition of Primordial Xenon|journal=Physical Review Letters|date=31 March 1960|volume=4|issue=7|pages=351–354|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.4.351|bibcode = 1960PhRvL...4..351R }}</ref>

==Methods of investigation==

===Mineralogy=== The presence or absence of certain minerals is indicative of physical and chemical processes. Impacts on the parent body are recorded by impact-breccias and high-pressure mineral phases (e.g. coesite, akimotoite, majorite, ringwoodite, stishovite, wadsleyite).<ref name="Coleman 1977">{{cite journal|last=Coleman|first=Leslie C.|title=Ringwoodite and majorite in the Catherwood meteorite|journal=Canadian Mineralogist|date=1977|volume=15|pages=97–101|url=http://canmin.geoscienceworld.org/content/15/1/97.extract|access-date=19 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="Ohtani 2010">{{cite journal|last=Ohtani|first=E.|author2=Ozawa, S. |author3=Miyahara, M. |author4=Ito, Y. |display-authors=4 |author5=Mikouchi, T. |author6=Kimura, M. |author7=Arai, T. |author8=Sato, K. |author9= Hiraga, K. |title=Coesite and stishovite in a shocked lunar meteorite, Asuka-881757, and impact events in lunar surface|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=27 December 2010|volume=108|issue=2|pages=463–466|doi=10.1073/pnas.1009338108|bibcode = 2011PNAS..108..463O |pmid=21187434 |pmc=3021006|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Ferroir 2008">{{cite journal|last=Ferroir|first=Tristan|author2=Beck, Pierre |author3=Van de Moortèle, Bertrand |author4=Bohn, Marcel |display-authors=4 |author5=Reynard, Bruno |author6=Simionovici, Alexandre |author7=El Goresy, Ahmed |author8=Gillet, Philippe|title=Akimotoite in the Tenham meteorite: Crystal chemistry and high-pressure transformation mechanisms|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|date=1 October 2008|volume=275|issue=1–2|pages=26–31|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.048|bibcode = 2008E&PSL.275...26F |url=https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4962/}}</ref> Water bearing minerals, and samples of liquid water (e.g., Zag, Monahans) are an indicator for hydrothermal activity on the parent body (e.g. clay minerals).<ref name="Hutchison 1987">{{cite journal|last=Hutchison|first=R.|author2=Alexander, C.M.O. |author3=barber, D.J. |title=The Semarkona meteorite: First recorded occurrence of smectite in an ordinary chondrite, and its implications|journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta|date=30 June 1987|volume=51|issue=7|pages=1875–1882|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(87)90178-5|bibcode = 1987GeCoA..51.1875H }}</ref>

===Radiometric dating=== Radiometric methods can be used to date different stages of the history of a meteorite. Condensation from the solar nebula is recorded by calcium–aluminium-rich inclusions and chondrules. These can be dated by using radionuclides that were present in the solar nebula (e.g. ²⁶Al/²⁶Mg, ⁵³Mn/⁵³Cr, U/Pb, ¹²⁹I/¹²⁹Xe). After the condensed material accretes to planetesimals of sufficient size melting and differentiation take place. These processes can be dated with the U/Pb, ⁸⁷Rb/⁸⁷Sr,<ref name="Birck 1978">{{cite journal|last=Birck|first=J.L.|author2=Allègre, C. J.|title=Chronology and chemical history of the parent body of basaltic achondrites studied by the ⁸⁷Rb-⁸⁷Sr method|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|date=28 February 1978|volume=39|issue=1|pages=37–51|doi=10.1016/0012-821X(78)90139-5|bibcode = 1978E&PSL..39...37B }}</ref> ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴³Nd and ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁶Hf methods.<ref name="Bouvier 2008">{{cite journal|last=Bouvier|first=Audrey|author2=Vervoort, Jeffrey D. |author3=Patchett, P. Jonathan |title=The Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd isotopic composition of CHUR: Constraints from unequilibrated chondrites and implications for the bulk composition of terrestrial planets|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|date=31 July 2008|volume=273|issue=1–2|pages=48–57|doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2008.06.010|bibcode = 2008E&PSL.273...48B }}</ref> Metallic core formation and cooling can be dated by applying the ¹⁸⁷Re/¹⁸⁷Os method to iron meteorites.<ref name="Smoliar 1996">{{cite journal|last=Smoliar|first=M. I.|author2=Walker, R. J. |author3=Morgan, J. W. |title=Re-Os Ages of Group IIA, IIIA, IVA, and IVB Iron Meteorites|journal=Science|date=23 February 1996|volume=271|issue=5252|pages=1099–1102|doi=10.1126/science.271.5252.1099|bibcode = 1996Sci...271.1099S |s2cid=96376008}}</ref><ref name="Report about Smolar 1996">{{cite web|title=Re-Os ages of group IIA, IIIA, IVA, and IVB iron from meteorites.|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18089497.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413133001/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18089497.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 April 2016|access-date=19 December 2012}}</ref> Large scale impact events or even the destruction of the parent body can be dated using the ³⁹Ar/⁴⁰Ar method and the ²⁴⁴Pu fission track method.<ref name="Bogard 1990">{{cite journal|last=Bogard|first=D.D|author2=Garrison, D.H |author3=Jordan, auJ.L |author4= Mittlefehldt, D |title=³⁹Ar-⁴⁰Ar dating of mesosiderites: Evidence for major parent body disruption < 4 Ga ago|journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta|date=31 August 1990|volume=54|issue=9|pages=2549–2564|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(90)90241-C|bibcode = 1990GeCoA..54.2549B }}</ref> After breakup of the parent body meteoroids are exposed to cosmic radiation. The length of this exposure can be dated using the ³H/³He method, ²²Na/²¹Ne, ⁸¹Kr/⁸³Kr.<ref name="Eugster 1988">{{cite journal|last=Eugster|first=O|title=Cosmic-ray production rates for ³He, ²¹Ne, ³⁸Ar, ⁸³Kr, and ¹²⁶Xe in chondrites based on ⁸¹Kr-Kr exposure ages|journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta|date=31 May 1988|volume=52|issue=6|pages=1649–1662|doi=10.1016/0016-7037(88)90233-5|bibcode = 1988GeCoA..52.1649E }}</ref><ref name="Nishiizumi 1980">{{cite journal|last=Nishiizumi|first=K.|author2=Regnier, S. |author3=Marti, K. |title=Cosmic ray exposure ages of chondrites, pre-irradiation and constancy of cosmic ray flux in the past|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|date=1 October 1980|volume=50|issue=1|pages=156–170|doi=10.1016/0012-821X(80)90126-0|bibcode = 1980E&PSL..50..156N }}</ref> After impact on earth (or any other planet with sufficient cosmic ray shielding) cosmogenic radionuclides decay and can be used to date the time since the meteorite fell. Methods to date this terrestrial exposure are ³⁶Cl, ¹⁴C, ⁸¹Kr.<ref name="Nishiizumi 1989">{{cite journal|last=Nishiizumi|first=K.|author2=Elmore, D. |author3=Kubik, P. W. |title=Update on terrestrial ages of Antarctic meteorites|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|date=30 June 1989|volume=93|issue=3–4|pages=299–313|doi=10.1016/0012-821X(89)90029-0|bibcode = 1989E&PSL..93..299N |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc703546/}}</ref>

== See also == * Glossary of meteoritics

==Notes and references==

===Notes=== {{Reflist|group=note}}

===References=== {{Reflist|30em}}

===Further reading=== *{{cite book|editor1-last= G. J. H. McCall|title=The history of meteoritics and key meteorite collections : fireballs, falls and finds|date=2006|publisher=Geological Society|location=London|isbn=978-1862391949}}

{{Meteorites}}

Category:Meteoroids *Meteoritics