AQUEOUS, LOW TEMPERATURE ENVIRONMENT OF THE 

 ORGUEIL METEORITE PARENT BODY 



Bartholomew Nagy 

 Department of Chemistry, Fordliam University, New York 58, N. Y. 



Warren G. Meinschein 

 Esso Research and Engineering Co., Linden, N.J. 



Douglas J. Hennessy 



Department of Chemistry, Fordliam University, New York 58, N.Y. 



Sources of knowledge of the composition of the universe have been limited to 

 (1) information which can be deduced from radiated energy and nuclear parti- 

 cles, and to (2) the results of the studies of meteorites. The presence of hydrous 

 silicates, iron oxide, water soluble salts, and organic matter in the carbonaceous 

 chondrites makes the study of this rare group of meteorites especially intriguing. 



There are 19 known carbonaceous chondrites (table 1). All 19 meteorites 

 were observed to fall. They all show a few millimeters thick fusion crust. 

 Various investigators have found, however, that below the crust the stones are 

 unaltered. Carbonaceous chondrites usually have loose textures and many of 

 them have a mineralogical composition indicating that they were never sub- 

 jected to temperatures higher than 300 to 400° C. 



The Orgueil meteorite, the principal object of the present investigation, fell 

 at 8 P.M. on May 14, 1864. Fragments were collected in and about the villages 

 of Orgueil, Nohic, and Campas in southern France. The appearance of the 

 luminous meteor, the subsequent detonations and the fall were observed by the 

 local residents. It is reported that the sound of the detonations was heard 

 within an area of approximately 75-miles radius. The combined weight of the 

 fragments which are now in various museum collections is approximately 11.5 

 kg. Based upon present knowledge of the attrition a stony meteorite under- 

 goes when it enters the atmosphere and the loss of fragments scattered by the 

 explosions that accompany most of these falls, it is probably safe to assume 

 that the Orgueil stone weighed several tons before it fell to earth. 



Carbonaceous chondrites are characterized by the few per cent of carbona- 

 ceous matter that they contain, by their water content, and as Urey and Craig^ 

 pointed out, by the highly oxidized state of their iron content. Mere traces of 

 carbon and water, however, have been found in a large number of stony and in a 

 few metallic meteorites, all of which had high temperature histories. Only 4 

 of the 19 carbonaceous chondrites have been subjected to organic analysis. 

 As recently as 1956, Wiik- observed that". . . the organic compounds are the 

 least well known substances in the carbonaceous chondrites." This lack of 

 information is probably caused by the fact that only small quantities of organic 

 matter can be extracted from these chondrites and that this organic substance 

 is difficult to analyze. There are a number of early investigations of varying 

 reliability described in the literature; most of these vaguely refer to "bitumi- 

 nous" substances, specifying odor, color, etc. 



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