Seminole meteorite, Gaines County, Texas, USAi

Regional Level Types
Seminole meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
Gaines County	County
Texas	State
USA	Country

Ordinary Chondrite (H4; S3)
Find, 1961; 43.9 kg, 2 major specimens

After seeing a daylight fireball passing over the skies of western Texas, a Mrs. Upton wrote to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal about a heavy object in her yard which looked like a rock, but had a "hard crust like metal". The 30.2 kg meteoritic object [33x29x23 cm], which had recently been plowed up on the Upton Farm, was eventually obtained by Glen Huss and associates. The recovered and visibly weathered stone had also been hammered in places, but still retained a thin fusion crust. A second major 10.7 kg fragment which appears to have broken off from the first stone late in flight was recovered from an adjoining farm in 1964. Olivine in fine grains within the matrix and in chondrules is the dominant phase. Significant amounts of clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene are also present with orthopyroxene especially prominent in radiating chondrules (RP). Smaller amounts of intergrown kamacite and taenite are present and have been partially replaced by troilite. Chromite and copper are among the accessory minerals reported. The total iron content (25.77 wt%) and olivine composition (Fa20) are characteristic of the H (high iron) ordinary chondrite group. Shock effects are pervasive with a strongly comminuted ground mass, Neumann bands in kamacite, and clear evidence that both Fe-Ni metal and troilite were mobilized. Prominent weathering products were noted by Huss et al. (1972) and Ramdohr (1973). A cosmic ray exposure age of 7.8 Ma has been reported.

The main mass was originally obtained by the Max Planck Institute and has presumably been transferred to the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Smaller masses were distributed elsewhere, including the TCU/Monnig Collection (Ft. Worth, Texas).

What's in a name?? — Several meteorites have been subsequently recovered from the same region and are listed at the Meteoritical Society Database. Seminole (e), Seminole (f), and Seminole (g) are H5 chondrites; Seminole (d) is an H6 chondrite. The smaller Seminole (b) and Seminole (c) [found in 1965, 1967, resp.] are, like the original Seminole, classified as H4 ordinary chondrites. Without further evidence, it appears that the 8 listed meteorites represent as few as 3 or as many as 8 original separate falls.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References