Barbotan meteorite, Barbotan, Cazaubon, Condom, Gers, Occitanie, Francei

Regional Level Types
Barbotan meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
Barbotan	- not defined -
Cazaubon	Commune
Condom	Arrondissement
Gers	Department
Occitanie	Region
France	Country

Ordinary chondrite, veined (H5)
Fell, 24 July 1790, 21:00 hrs; 6.4 kg

After a fireball moved from South to north, detonations were heard and a shower of stones fell. The largest stone recovered stone was 9 kg. Olivine (Fa19) and orthopyroxene ('Bronzite') are characteristic of the H-chondrite geochemical group. Mineralogically, the meteorite consists primarily of dominant olivine and somewhat lesser amounts of low-Ca pyroxene along with minor amounts of Fe-Ni metal (kamacite, taenite), troilite, plagioclase, and diopside. Accessory chromite, copper, ilmenite, and phosphates are also reported. Multiple shock features include undulose and mosaic extinction in olivine and orthopyroxene, polycrystalline kamacite, and troilite droplets in melt pockets.

A Pb,Th:He age of 2.02 Ga and a cosmic-ray exposure age of 6.7 Ma are reported. The CRE age is similar to many other H5 CRE ages, suggesting that as the Barbotan pre-impact meteoroid may have been involved in a collision which produced other H5 meteoroids which have also produced meteorites.

The H (relatively high in total iron) chondrites are the second largest group of ordinary chondrite falls and represent over 35% of well-classified, witnessed falls. Barbotan was only the 3rd meteorite fall recovered which is currently classified exactly as an 'H5' chondrite. Only Tabor (F:1773) and Eichstädt (F:1785) were recovered earlier. Today a total of 174 meteorite falls have now been classified exactly as H5 chondrites (May 2017).

Several masses in the 100 g-1 kg range are still extant with the largest at Tübingen University (as of 2000).

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References