Meteorite fall statistics

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Meteorite fall statistics are frequently used by planetary scientists to approximate the true flux of meteorites on Earth. Meteorite falls are those meteorites that are collected soon after being witnessed to fall, whereas meteorite finds are discovered at a later time. Although there are 30 times as much finds than falls, their raw distribution of types does not accurately reflect what falls to Earth. The reasons for this include the following:

Contents

There have been many attempts to correct statistical analyses of meteorite finds for some of these effects, especially to estimate the frequency with which rare meteorite types fall. For example, there are over 100 known lunar meteorite finds, but none has ever been observed to fall. However, for abundant types, meteorite fall statistics are generally preferred.

These statistics are current through June 9, 2012.

Statistics by material

For most meteorite falls, even those that occurred long ago or for which material has never received complete scientific characterization, it is known whether the object was a stone, stony iron, or iron meteorite. Here are the numbers and percentages of each type, based on literature data. [2] [3] [4]

MaterialNumber%
Iron meteorites492% [5]
Stony-iron meteorites111.0%
Stony meteorites104294.6%
Total1102100.0%

Statistics by major category

The traditional way of subdividing meteorites (see Meteorites classification) is into irons, stony-irons, and two major groups of stony meteorites, chondrites and achondrites. For some of the less-studied stony meteorite falls, it is not known whether the object is chondritic; thus the number of meteorites that can be so grouped is 4% lower than shown above. These numbers are shown in the next table. One could make a slight correction for the undercounting of stony meteorites (e.g., the percentage of irons would decrease by a 0.2%), but this was not done.

CategoryNumber%
Irons494.6%
Stony irons111.0%
Achondrites868.2%
Chondrites91586.2%
Total1062100.0%

Statistics by meteorite group

Probably the most useful statistical breakdown of meteorite falls is by group, which is the fundamental way that meteorites are classified. About 5% of the meteorites in the table just above have not been sufficiently classified to allow them to be put into such groups. Again, a small adjustment could be made to the percentages to correct for this effect, but it does not greatly change the results. Note that a number of meteorite groups are only represented by a small number of falls; the percentages of falls belonging to these groups have a large uncertainty.

GroupN%
Iron meteorites
IAB complex101.0%
IC00.0%
IIAB60.6%
IIC00.0%
IID30.3%
IIE20.2%
IIF10.1%
IIG00.0%
IIIAB111.1%
IIIE00.0%
IIIF00.0%
IVA40.4%
IVB 00.0%
Ungrouped40.4%
Stony Iron meteorites
Mesosiderite70.7%
Pallasite40.4%
GroupN%
Achondrites
Acapulcoite10.1%
Lodranite10.1%
Angrite10.1%
Aubrite90.9%
Diogenite111.2%
Eucrite343.4%
Howardite161.6%
Brachinite00.0%
Ureilite60.6%
Winonaite10.1%
Ungrouped20.2%
Lunar00.0%
Martian50.5%
GroupN%Class total
Chondrites
CB10.1%Carbonaceous:
4.4%
CH00.0%
CI50.5%
CK20.2%
CM151.5%
CO60.6%
CR20.2%
CV70.7%
C ungrouped60.6%
EH80.8%Enstatite:
1.6%
EL80.8%
H33933.8%Ordinary:
80.0%
H/L10.1%
L37137.0%
L/LL90.9%
LL828.2%
R10.1%Other:
0.2%
K10.1%
Grand Total: 1003 meteorites

Statistics by country

CountryN
Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan 2
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 7
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola 3
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 24
Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 2
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 16
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 4
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan 2
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 8
Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 3
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 3
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 22
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 6
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 8
Flag of Myanmar.svg  Burma 3
Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia 2
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon 3
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 16
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic 1
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 1
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 1
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  People's Republic of China 58
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1
Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 1
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 4
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 15
CountryN
Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  DR Congo 5
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 4
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 1
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 2
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 3
Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 5
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 5
Flag of France.svg  France 63
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 32
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 1
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 1
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 6
Flag of India.svg  India 127
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 16
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 2
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq 2
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 6
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 31
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 42
Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan 1
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 6
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 4
Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 4
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 1
Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho 1
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya 1
Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 4
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 1
CountryN
Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi 5
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 2
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania 3
Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius 1
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 19
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 4
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 6
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 2
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 4
Flags of New Caledonia.svg  New Caledonia 1
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 9
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 14
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 9
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 15
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 2
Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay 1
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 1
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 4
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 11
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 6
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 7
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 47
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 1
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 4
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 4
Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 3
CountryN
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 5
Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 2
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 21
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 3
Flag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan 3
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 23
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 1
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 7
Flag of Eswatini.svg  Swaziland 1
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 9
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 4
Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg  Syria 1
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 8
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 3
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 5
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 12
Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan 2
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 5
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 32
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 18
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 146
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 2
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 2
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 3
Western Sahara [a] 3
Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen 2
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 1
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2
Grand Total: 1106 meteorites

Statistics by continent and time

EpochEuropeAsiaNorth
America
AfricaSouth
America
OceaniaTotal
Pre-1400112
1400s44
1500s22
1600s9312
1700s25328
1800–18203173142
1821–1840261191148
1841–1860421512170
1861–1880473614641108
1881–19003627207292
1901–19202755211042119
1921–194038553217145161
1941–196027271831123118
1961–19801942222983123
1981–20001249192442110
2001-111512167263
Total35734612114453201102

Notes

  1. Western Sahara is not a country. It is a disputed territory in the Maghreb region of North Africa, partially controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and partially Moroccan-occupied.

See also

References

  1. Gritsevich, Maria; Moilanen, Jarmo; Visuri, Jaakko; Meier, Matthias M. M.; Maden, Colin; Oberst, Jürgen; Heinlein, Dieter; Flohrer, Joachim; Castro-Tirado, Alberto J.; Delgado-García, Jorge; Koeberl, Christian; Ferrière, Ludovic; Brandstätter, Franz; Povinec, Pavel P.; Sýkora, Ivan; Schweidler, Florian (2024). "The fireball of November 24, 1970, as the most probable source of the Ischgl meteorite". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 59 (7): 1658–1691. arXiv: 2404.11989 . Bibcode:2024M&PS...59.1658G. doi:10.1111/maps.14173.
  2. "Meteoritical Bulletin Database". Lunar and Planetary Institute . Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  3. The NHM Catalogue of Meteorites
  4. MetBase
  5. Kyrylenko, Ihor; Golubov, Oleksiy; Slyusarev, Ivan; Visuri, Jaakko; Gritsevich, Maria; Krugly, Yurij N.; Belskaya, Irina; Shevchenko, Vasilij G. (2023). "The First Instrumentally Documented Fall of an Iron Meteorite: Orbit and Possible Origin". The Astrophysical Journal. 953 (1): 20. Bibcode:2023ApJ...953...20K. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acdc21 .