Surprising Discovery from Austrian Skies - New Insights into the Kindberg Meteorite

Exactly five years ago, on the morning of November 19, 2020, an exceptionally bright fireball illuminated the sky over parts of Germany, Austria, and Italy. This was caused by a meteoroid that, upon entering Earth's atmosphere, produced a dazzling glow due to its enormous speed.

Thanks to the European Fireball Network, the approximate impact site could be quickly narrowed down. However, the actual search proved difficult due to winter conditions. It wasn't until the following summer that a fragment of the meteorite, weighing 233 grams, was finally found near Kindberg in Styria, Austria. With this discovery, the meteorite became the fifth observed meteorite fall in Austria.

After being classified as a weakly shocked L6 chondrite, there was little news about the find - until now. "The 'Kindberg' meteorite, with its characteristic black shock veins, is an ideal 'fresh' study object for infrared measurements to investigate effects related to these shock veins that are visible in the infrared spectrum," explains Prof. Dr. Addi Bischoff. "We were looking for this information because it's essential for remote sensing, for example, for the MERTIS infrared spectrometer." Therefore, the Institute of Planetology at the University of Münster submitted a sample request to the Natural History Museum in Vienna earlier this year to uncover the secrets of the Kindberg meteorite.

Under the leadership of planetologists Prof. Dr. Addi Bischoff, Dr. Iris Weber, and Dr. Maximilian Reitze from the University of Münster, a German-French-Austrian research team analyzed the cosmic fragment - with surprising results, which have now been published in the renowned journal "Meteoritics & Planetary Science".

"We discovered, among other things, the rare mineral wadsleyite, which forms from olivine under extremely high pressures," says Dr. Maximilian Reitze. These high-pressure phases occur alongside ringwoodite and majorite in tiny areas. Only through the use of the infrared spectrometer with a microscope at the Institute of Planetology could the scientists identify these special minerals.

On Earth, such high-pressure phases typically form deep within the Earth's mantle - far below reachable depths - or artificially in laboratories. In the case of the Kindberg meteorite, they formed due to violent collisions between its parent body and other asteroids in the asteroid belt, approximately 250 million kilometers away from Earth.

"The discovery shows that even in weakly shocked meteorites, high-pressure phases can form and persist," explains Prof. Dr. Bischoff.

This finding is not only relevant to meteorite research but also provides valuable insights for the remote sensing of asteroids and rocky planets like Mercury. "This new knowledge gives us important clues for interpreting spectral data from these bodies," explains Dr. Maximilian Reitze. If high-pressure phases can occur at low shock loads, they may be even more common in more heavily shocked rocks. This must be considered when interpreting spectral data from such bodies.

"The current results serve as a starting point for further investigations, especially with regard to the upcoming exploration of Mercury using the MERTIS instrument on board the ESA mission BepiColombo," summarizes Dr. Iris Weber. The Institute of Planetology is also participating in this scientific mission.

For further information or press inquiries:
Dr. Maximilian P. Reitze
Institut für Planetologie
maximilian.p-reitze@uni-muenster.de
+49 - 251 83 34720 (Reitze)

Original article

Addi Bischoff, Maximilian P. Reitze,,Julia Roszjar, Markus Patzek, Jean-Alix Barrat, Jasper Berndt, Tommaso Di Rocco, Andreas Pack, and Iris Weber: Kindberg, the 5th meteorite fall in Austria: A weakly shocked L6 chondrite breccia with high-pressure phases.
Meteorit Planet Sci. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.70072

 

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