Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict., 12, 1941. 
THE CAROLINE STONY METEORITE/ 
By F. L. Stillwell, D.Sc. 
Plcate XI. 
The meteorite, which looks like a piece of ironstone, was 
picked up by Mr. S. McEachern at the site of a blackfellows’ 
camp about four miles north of Caroline, near the half-mile 
stretch of the Glenelg River which is within the South Aus- 
tralian border not far from the mouth of the river. A 
fragment of ironstone is an unusual object on extensive 
Tertiary limestone plain where the meteorite was found. Mr. 
McEachern gave it to Mr. R. A. Keble, of the National 
Museum, Melbourne, who recognized that it was probably a 
stony meteorite. 
The weathered condition of the meteorite indicates that it 
did not fall in recent years, and since it was found at the site 
of a blackfellows’ camp, it may have been carried there by 
aborigines. 
The stone would not attract attention on the basaltic areas 
in Victoria, and this may be a reason why no stony meteorite 
has yet been found in Victoria. 
The Caroline meteorite (PI. XI, fig. 5) is rusty in colour, 
roughly rectangular in shape, and approximately 8x8x6 cm. 
in size; after slicing, the si^ecimen, with detached chips, 
w’eighed 800 gm. ; specific gravity, 3 40. The thin outer 
skin is the colour of limonite, unlike the black skin of fresh 
stony meteorites. One surface, where the skin was broken 
away, has a fractured appearance; the opposing surface, 
where the skin is partly preserved, displays shallow “thumb- 
mark” depressions which are characteristic of many meteo- 
rites. Other surfaces are relatively smooth. A hand lens 
reveals small fused and slaggy patches. 
A vein of limonite 0 5 cm. wide (Fig. 5, lower left-hand 
corner) forms a slight ridge on a surface which is otherwise 
.smooth. This vein, together with the even impregnation of 
iron oxide on both sides of the ridge simulates banded iron- 
stone, but it is probably an oxidized seam of nickel-iron or 
pyrrhotite. After polishing, surfaces reveal numerous small 
secondary limonite veins formed during weathering. 
In several places, irregular cracks up to 4 cm. long penetrate 
'Published by permission of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 
41 
