Meteorite (Allende)
Keywords
CAIs, chondrite, meteorite, protoplanetary disk
Definition
Allende is a meteorite that fell in Mexico in 1969. Roughly 2 t of that CV3 carbonaceous chondrite were found. Allende is one of the most studied meteorites, because it contains abundant and large CAIs, which are believed to be the first solids to have formed in the solar system.
Overview
The Allende meteorite fell early in the morning of Saturday, February 8, 1969, 7 months before the fall of Murchison (CM2 chondrite rich in amino acid, see entry Murchison) and 4 months before the return of 22 kg of Moon rocks by the Apollo 11 crew. After a bright fireball that was seen in Texas and New Mexico, thousands of stones fell near the small village (pueblito) of Allende, south of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico.
References and Further Reading
- Christophe Michel-Lévy M (1968) Un chondre exceptionnel dans la météorite de Vigarano. Bull Soc fr Minéral Cristallogr 91:212–214Google Scholar
- Clarke RS, Jarosewich E et al (1970) The Allende, Mexico, meteorite shower. Smithonian Contrib Earth Sci 5:1–53ADSGoogle Scholar
- Krot AN, Petaev MI et al (1998) Progressive alteration in CV3 chondrites: more evidence for asteroidal alteration. MAPS 33:1065–1085ADSGoogle Scholar