Glossary of meteoritics

This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.

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A

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B

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C

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D

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  • Dar al Gani – a meteorite field in the Libyan Sahara.
  • Desert glass – natural glass found in deserts formed from the silica in sand as a result of lightning strikes or meteor impacts.
  • Differentiated – a meteorite that has undergone igneous differentiation. (See: achondrite)
  • Differentiation – usually the process of a planetesimal forming an iron core and silicate mantle.
  • Duo – a grouping of two meteorites that share similar characteristics (see Grouplet).

E

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  • E – can refer to enstatite chondrite or to an iron meteorite designation (Roman numeral and letter).
  • Eagle Station grouplet – a set of pallasite meteorite specimen that do not fit into any of the defined pallasite groups.
  • Electrophonic bolide – a meteoroid which produces a measurable discharge of electromagnetic energy (EMP) during its passage through the atmosphere.
  • Enstatite achondrite – a meteorite that is mostly composed of enstatite. Usually part of the aubrite group.
  • Enstatite chondrite – a rare form of meteorite thought to comprise only 2% of chondrites.

F

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  • Fall – a meteorite that was seen while it fell to Earth and found.
  • Find – a meteorite that was found without seeing it fall.
  • Fossil meteorite – a meteorite that was buried under layers of sediment before the start of the Quaternary period. Some or all of the original cosmic material has been replaced by diagenetic minerals.[3]: 320  (It is, however, not a fossil).
  • Fusion crust – a coating on meteorites that forms during their passage through the atmosphere.

G

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  • Group – a collection of five or more meteorites sharing similar characteristics.[1]
  • Grouplet – a collection of fewer than five meteorites sharing similar characteristics.[1]

H

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  • Hammer Stone – a specific individual meteorite that has hit either a human, man-made object, and/or an animal.
  • HED – abbreviation for three basaltic achondrite groups howardite, eucrite and diogenite.
  • HED meteorite – a clan of basaltic achondrites.
  • Hexahedrite – a structural class of iron meteorites having a relatively low nickel content
  • Hunter – a person who searches for meteorites.

I

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  • Impact breccia – rock composed of fragments of terrestrial, extraterrestrial or mixed origin fused by the energy of impact
  • Impactite – informal term for a terrestrial rock resulting from the shocking impact of a meteor.
  • Iron–nickel alloy – an alternative expression for meteoric iron.
  • Iron meteorite – a meteorite that is mainly composed of meteoric iron.

K

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L

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M

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N

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  • Nakhlite – a group of Martian meteorites
  • Neumann lines (or Neumann bands) – a pattern of fine parallel lines seen in some iron meteorites, thought to be due to impact events on the parent body
  • Nonmagmatic meteorite – (deprecated) iron meteorites that were thought to have not formed by igneous processes.

O

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  • O – usually refers to ordinary chondrite
  • Observed fall – a meteorite that was seen when it fell to Earth.
  • Octahedrite – the most common structural class of iron meteorites.
  • Ordinary chondrite – a chondrite meteorite, where 'ordinary' means that it is the most common found

P

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R

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Regmaglypts on Sikhote Alin

S

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T

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  • Taenite – a native metal (mineral) found in meteorites.
  • Tamdakht – a meteorite that fell near Ouarzazate, Morocco on 2008-12-20 producing a strewn field of approximately 25 km (16 mi) by 2 km (1.2 mi) and two small impact craters.
  • Tektite – glassy terrestrial debris created by meteorite impacts.
  • Thumbprinting – see regmaglypts
  • Total known weight (TKW) – total known mass of a meteorite.
  • Trio – a grouping of three meteorites that share similar characteristics (see Grouplet).
  • Type – subdivision of meteorites. Loosely defined. Usually refers to chondrite, achondrite and sometimes primitive achondrite.[1]

U

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V

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W

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e M. K. Weisberg; T. J. McCoy, A. N. Krot (2006). "Systematics and Evaluation of Meteorite Classification" (PDF). In D. S. Lauretta; H. Y. McSween, Jr. (eds.). Meteorites and the early solar system II. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. pp. 19–52, 942. ISBN 978-0816525621. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  2. ^ McSween, Harry Y. (2021). Cosmochemistry. Gary R. Huss. Cambridge, United Kingdom. ISBN 978-1-108-88526-3. OCLC 1259294621.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Schmitz, B.; Tassinari, M. (2001), "Fossil Meteorites", in Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B.; Schmitz, B. (eds.), Accretion of Extraterrestrial Matter Throughout Earth's History, New York: Springer, pp. 319–31, doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8694-8_17, ISBN 978-1-4613-4668-5
  4. ^ Agee, C. B.; N.V. Wilson; F.M. McCubbin; Z.D. Sharp; K. Ziegler (2012). "Basaltic Breccia NWA 7034: New ungrouped planetary Achondrite" (PDF). 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (1659): 2690. Bibcode:2012LPI....43.2690A. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  5. ^ Goldstein, J. I.; Michael, J. R. (1 April 2006). "The formation of plessite in meteoritic metal". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 41 (4): 553–70. Bibcode:2006M&PS...41..553G. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2006.tb00482.x.
  6. ^ "regmaglypts". Meteorite or Meteorwrong?. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  7. ^ "The Weston Meteorite (Yale Peabody Museum)". 7 December 2010.