Meteorites from the Nullarbor Region, Western Australia: I. A review of past recoveries and a procedure for naming new finds

— Currently, 44 distinct meteorites are recorded from the Nullarbor Region in Western Australia. Recovery data for the Billygoat Donga, Cardanumbi, Cocklebiddy, Forrest Lakes, Laundry East, Lookout Hill, North East Reid, North Reid, Reid, Webb, West Forrest, West Reid and Yayjinna meteorites are amended, and North Forrest is recognized as distinct from North West Forrest (H). Since 1971, the recovery of more than 500 specimens (predominantly ordinary chondrites) from the desert has made the Nullarbor Region one of the most productive areas of the world for meteorite recoveries and has caused major problems for meteorite nomenclature. To overcome a lack of geographical names, we have delineated a grid of 47 named ‘areas’ in the Nullarbor Region. Henceforth, distinct meteorites will take the name of the ‘area’ in which they are found and a number ( e.g. , 001) in order of discovery. In general, the names of past recoveries remain unchanged. The absence of transportation processes in the region, and accurate documentation of the distribution of finds allows ‘pairing’ of specimens to at least 90% level of confidence.