Meteorite search in the deflation basins in Lea County, New Mexico and Winkler County, Texas, USA: Discovery of Lea County 003 (H4)

• Main Authors: Mikouchi, T., Buchanan, P. C., Zolensky, M. E., Welten, K. C., Hutchison, R., Hutchison, M.
• Other Authors: United States. Department of Energy. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 2000
• Subjects: Mineralogy; Petrology; Meteorites; Exploration; New Mexico; 71 Classical And Quantum Mechanics; General Physics; Texas; Weathering; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc704645/

During the past few decades great numbers of meteorites have been recovered from the ice accumulation zones of Antarctica and from the vast Sahara. Although these two great deserts are the two most productive areas, the Southern High Plains in USA (New Mexico and Texas) and Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia have great potential for meteorite recovery. The number of meteorite finds from Roosevelt County, New Mexico alone exceeds 100 in only approximately 11 km{sup 2} area. Most meteorites from this area have been found on the floors of active deflation basins (blowouts) that have been excavated from a mantle of sand dunes. This area has no apparent fluvial or permafrost activity within the last 50,000 years, suggesting that only prevailing winds and natural aridity aid in the concentration and preservation of meteorites. The authors investigated these deflation surfaces in Lea County (the SE corner of New Mexico) and neighboring Winkler County, Texas following a prior search in this area which found two chondrites. They found a tiny H4 chondrite in this search and here they report its mineralogy and petrology along with preliminary data on its exposure history.