Authenticating the recovery location of meteorites: The case of Castenaso

Abstract

Abstract-This forensic work aims to authenticate the recovery location of Castenaso, a 120 g ordinary chondritic (L5) meteorite reportedly found in 2003 along the sandy bank of the Idice Stream, near the village of Castenaso (Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy). Using the hypothesis that Castenaso was instead a hot-desert meteorite, we conducted a comparative mineralogical and geochemical study of major weathering effects on European and Saharan ordinary chondrites as potential markers of the environment where Castenaso resided during its terrestrial lifetime.Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) data reveals that Castenaso is significantly enriched in Sr, Ba, Tl, and U, and suggests geochemical alteration in a hot-desert environment. The alteration is minor: Castenaso is not coated by desert varnish and does not show significant light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment or loss of Ni and Co.The apparent contrast in size, morphology, and composition between the soil particles filling the external fractures of Castenaso and those from the bank of the Idice Stream observed under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) suggests that Castenaso did not reside at the reported find location. Abraded quartz grains (up to 1 mm in size) in Castenaso are undoubtedly from a hot-desert eolian environment: they are well-rounded and show external surfaces characterized by the presence of dish-shaped concavities and upturned silica plates that have been subject to solution-precipitation and subsequent smoothing.We therefore conclude that Castenaso is one of the many hot-desert ordinary chondrite finds, probably from the Sahara, that is currently available on the market. This forensic work provides the scientific grounds for changing the name of this meteorite.

Modification of REE distribution of ordinary chondrites from Atacama (Chile) and Lut (Iran) hot deserts: Insights into the chemical weathering of meteorites

“…), and Europe (Folco et al. ) are shown along the data of this work. Some samples from Lut with Ba <10 ppm are also included.…”

“…) and even weathered samples from Europe (Folco et al. ) show ΣREE contents similar to Lut samples. However, ΣREE is elevated in highly weathered Saharan OCs (analyzed by Saunier et al.…”

“…), and Europe (Folco et al. ) are used along the data of this work. PdM is the abbreviated form of Pampa de Mejillones.…”

Meteorites from the United Arab Emirates: Description, weathering, and terrestrial ages

“…One reason for this is terrestrial weathering. A detailed description and discussion of meteorite finds, their petrology, weathering, terrestrial age, etc., is highly valuable to understand the overprint meteorites experience while residing on the surface of Earth (Bland et al 1996(Bland et al , 1998(Bland et al , 2000Schlu¨ter et al 2002;Lee and Bland 2004;Welten et al 2004;Al-Kathiri et al 2005;Folco et al 2007;Ouazaa et al 2009). In addition, understanding terrestrial weathering can help understand alteration processes on meteorite parent bodies (Bland et al 2006) or the terrestrial paleoclimate of the find region (Jull et al 1995).…”

Julius Obsequens’s book, Liber Prodigiorum: A Roman era record of meteorite falls, fireballs, and other celestial phenomena

“…The analysis of the meteorite falls reported in Obsequens’s Liber Prodigiorum provides evidence of possible new Italian meteorite falls. The MBD actually includes 64 records for meteorites from Italy, which are classified as official (41 meteorites), doubtful (18 entries), pseudometeorite (four records), and discredited (one meteorite; Folco et al 2010). In spite of their small number, the study of Italian meteorites has long been the subject of intense historiographic and theoretical debates (Veggiani 1964; Tinazzi 1994; Barbieri and Zuccoli 1997; Guidone 1997; Cevolani 2005).…”