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Numerous unpaired meteorites exposed on a deflating playa lake at Lucerne Valley, California
Author(s) -
Rubin Alan e.,
Verish Robert s.,
Moore Carleton b.,
Oriti Ronald a.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01793.x
Subject(s) - meteorite , geology , allende meteorite , astrobiology , ordinary chondrite , chondrite , geochemistry , physics
— Out of 16 well‐characterized 1 to 37 g meteorite specimens recovered from Lucerne Dry Lake (an approximately 3 × 7 km playa in the southern Mojave Desert of California), there are 9 separate ordinary chondrite finds. The ratio of independent meteorites to total number of specimens (∼0.6) is among the highest in the world. This is due to lack of initial deep burial of the small meteorites, significant deflation of the lake exposing falls of individual stones (or small numbers of paired meteorites), and the absence of a large meteorite shower in the region. Playas appear to be excellent candidates for high‐yield meteorite‐collecting areas.