On the Trail of the Great Canadian Meteorites
Arizona State University Meteorite Collection
"The Vault"
Meteorites from Canada can be found in museums or institutions in other countries. On February 3rd 2023, I had the opportunity to visit the world-class meteorite collection of the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe. Our small group of meteorite enthusiasts was expertly guided into "The Vault" by Dr. Laurence Garvie.
In the public gallery was this beautiful sample of the Springwater pallasite.
Bruno
The Bruno iron meteorite 13kg single mass was found in a field in Saskatchewan in 1931. A piece was sent to the Nininger Meteorite Lab for analysis. A favourite of our group, this meteorite shows features of flight orientation, great flow lines and roll-over lips.
Thanks to Topher Spinnato ( of Topherspin Meteorites ) for these close-up shots of Bruno.
Blithfield
Found in Renfrew County, Ontario in 1910, total weight was 1.83 kg. The finder thought he had found silver. This is an enstatite chondrite stone.
Skookum Gulch
Now known as "Skookum". Found in1905 in the Yukon Territory. An ataxite iron.
Klondike
A similar iron. The Klondike (Gay Gulch) meteorite was found in 1901 16km south of Skookum.
These 2 meteorites may be from the same ancient fall. They were dug up deep in the ground during gold mining. Note the old label !
Abee
Abee fell on June 9 1952 as a fireball and a single 107 kg fusion-crusted mass was recovered from a 6 foot deep angled crater in a wheat field 5 days later. It is a beautiful and rare example of an EH4 impact-melt breccia meteorite (breccias are fragments of rocks and minerals cemented together). Abee has varied sized metal-rimmed chunks. Also known as an enstatite (magnesium-rich silicate) chondrite.
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