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The Winchcombe meteorite, a unique and pristine witness from the outer solar system

  • Ashley J. King*
  • , Luke Daly*
  • , James Rowe
  • , Katherine H. Joy
  • , Richard C. Greenwood
  • , Hadrien A.R. Devillepoix
  • , Martin D. Suttle
  • , Queenie H.S. Chan
  • , Sara S. Russell
  • , Helena C. Bates
  • , James F.J. Bryson
  • , Patricia L. Clay
  • , Denis Vida
  • , Martin R. Lee
  • , Áine O’Brien
  • , Lydia J. Hallis
  • , Natasha R. Stephen
  • , Romain Tartèse
  • , Eleanor K. Sansom
  • , Martin C. Towner
  • Martin Cupak, Patrick M. Shober, Phil A. Bland, Ross Findlay, Ian A. Franchi, Alexander B. Verchovsky, Feargus A.J. Abernethy, Monica M. Grady, Cameron J. Floyd, Matthias Van Ginneken, John Bridges, Leon J. Hicks, Rhian H. Jones, Jennifer T. Mitchell, Matthew J. Genge, Laura Jenkins, Pierre Etienne Martin, Mark A. Sephton, Jonathan S. Watson, Tobias Salge, Katherine A. Shirley, Rowan J. Curtis, Tristram J. Warren, Neil E. Bowles, Finlay M. Stuart, Luigia Di Nicola, Domokos Györe, Adrian J. Boyce, Kathryn M.M. Shaw, Tim Elliott, Robert C.J. Steele, Pavel Povinec, Matthias Laubenstein, David Sanderson, Alan Cresswell, Anthony J.T. Jull, Ivan Sýkora, Sanjana Sridhar, Richard J. Harrison, Francesca M. Willcocks, Catherine S. Harrison, Daniel Hallatt, Penny J. Wozniakiewicz, Mark J. Burchell, Luke S. Alesbrook, Aishling Dignam, Natasha V. Almeida, Caroline L. Smith, Brett Clark, Emma R. Humphreys-Williams, Paul F. Schofield, Luke T. Cornwell, Vassilia Spathis, Geraint H. Morgan, Mark J. Perkins, Richard Kacerek, Peter Campbell-Burns, Francois Colas, Brigitte Zanda, Pierre Vernazza, Sylvain Bouley, Simon Jeanne, Mike Hankey, Gareth S. Collins, John S. Young, Clive Shaw, Jana Horak, Dave Jones, Nick James, Steve Bosley, Alan Shuttleworth, Paul Dickinson, Ian McMullan, Derek Robson, Andrew R.D. Smedley, Ben Stanley, Richard Bassom, Mark McIntyre, Adam A. Suttle, Richard Fleet, Luc Bastiaens, Míra B. Ihász, Sarah McMullan, Sarah J. Boazman, Zach I. Dickeson, Peter M. Grindrod, Annemarie E. Pickersgill, Colin J. Weir, Fiona M. Suttle, Sarah Farrelly, Ieun Spencer, Sheeraz Naqvi, Ben Mayne, Dan Skilton, Dan Kirk, Ann Mounsey, Sally E. Mounsey, Sarah Mounsey, Pamela Godfrey, Lachlan Bond, Victoria Bond, Cathryn Wilcock, Hannah Wilcock, Rob Wilcock
*Corresponding author for this work
  • The Natural History Museum, London
  • System for Capture of Asteroid and Meteorite Paths (SCAMP)
  • UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll)
  • University of Glasgow
  • University of Oxford
  • University of Sydney
  • UK Fireball Network (UKFN)
  • University of Manchester
  • The Open University
  • Curtin University
  • Royal Holloway University of London
  • Western University
  • Observatoire de Paris
  • University of Kent
  • University of Leicester
  • University of Plymouth
  • Imperial College London
  • Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
  • Isomass Scientific Inc.
  • University of Bristol
  • University of St Andrews
  • Comenius University
  • National Institute for Nuclear Physics
  • University of Arizona
  • Institute for Nuclear Research
  • University of Cambridge
  • Université de Lille
  • Anatune Ltd
  • UK Meteor Observation Network (UKMON)
  • Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Recovery (FRIPON)
  • Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
  • Aix-Marseille Université
  • Université Paris-Saclay
  • AllSky7 Meteor Camera Network
  • National Museum of Wales
  • NEMETODE Network
  • Global Meteor Network (GMN)
  • Spire Global UK Limited
  • ESTEC
  • Toucan Energy Ltd.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid. Recovered only hours after falling, the composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is largely unmodified by the terrestrial environment. It contains abundant hydrated silicates formed during fluid-rock reactions, and carbon- and nitrogen-bearing organic matter including soluble protein amino acids. The near-pristine hydrogen isotopic composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is comparable to the terrestrial hydrosphere, providing further evidence that volatile-rich carbonaceous asteroids played an important role in the origin of Earth’s water.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereabq3925
JournalScience advances
Volume8
Issue number46
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Multidisciplinary

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