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Science 13 October 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5490, pp. 320 - 325
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5490.320
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Reports

The Fall, Recovery, Orbit, and Composition of the Tagish Lake Meteorite: A New Type of Carbonaceous Chondrite

Peter G. Brown,1 Alan R. Hildebrand,3 Michael E. Zolensky,4 Monica Grady,5 Robert N. Clayton,6 Toshiko K. Mayeda,6 Edward Tagliaferri,7 Richard Spalding,8 Neil D. MacRae,9 Eric L. Hoffman,10 David W. Mittlefehldt,11 John F. Wacker,12 J. Andrew Bird,3 Margaret D. Campbell,1 Robert Carpenter,9 Heather Gingerich,9 Michael Glatiotis,3 Erika Greiner,9 Michael J. Mazur,3 Phil JA. McCausland,9 Howard Plotkin,2 Tina Rubak Mazur3

The preatmospheric mass of the Tagish Lake meteoroid was about 200,000 kilograms. Its calculated orbit indicates affinity to the Apollo asteroids with a semimajor axis in the middle of the asteroid belt, consistent with a linkage to low-albedo C, D, and P type asteroids. The mineralogy, oxygen isotope, and bulk chemical composition of recovered samples of the Tagish Lake meteorite are intermediate between CM and CI meteorites. These data suggest that the Tagish Lake meteorite may be one of the most primitive solar system materials yet studied.

1 Department of Physics and Astronomy,
2 Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada.
3 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada.
4 SN2, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
5 Department of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
6 Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Chemistry, and Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
7 ET Space Systems, 5990 Worth Way, Camarillo, CA 93012, USA.
8 Sandia National Laboratories, Organization 5909, Mail Stop 0978, Post Office Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA.
9 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada.
10 Activation Laboratories Ltd., 1336 Sandhill Drive, Ancaster, Ontario L9G 4V5, Canada.
11 Lockheed Martin SO, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
12 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Post Office Box 999, Richland, WA 99352, USA.

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