10 
W. D. BIRCH 
Wo 50 
Fig. 5. Pyroxene quadrilateral showing compositions of the orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in the Bealiba 
Meteorite. 
pink grains up to 2.5 mm. Chromite is wide¬ 
spread as rounded pale grey grains up to about 
0.1 mm across. Thin concretionary rims to 
kamacite grains consist of goethite, which also 
occurs as small skeletal grains and microveinlets 
in the groundmass. These features are a result of 
breakdown of the metallic minerals during 
weathering. 
Microprobe analysis of various grains of 
kamacite and taenite showed compositional 
ranges represented by Fe/Ni = 14-17 and Fe/Ni 
= 1.9-2.7 (wt% basis) respectively. Cr contents 
were below detectable limits. The chromite con¬ 
tains small amounts of Al, Ti and Mg (Table 1). 
Chlorine-bearing areas associated with the Fe- 
rich alteration around kamacite grains suggest 
the presence of akaganeite (Buchwald & Clarke 
1989). 
CLASSIFICATION 
A full chemical analysis of the Bealiba meteorite 
was not carried out but the meteorite can be 
classified on textural and mineralogical 
grounds. Summarising the criteria for chondrite 
classification based on Dodd (1981) and Van 
Schmus & Wood (1967), the Bealiba meteorite 
has: homogeneous olivine (Fo 75 Fa 2 5 ) and pyrox¬ 
ene compositions; an orthorhombic low-Ca 
pyroxene; feldspar forming distinct groundmass 
and interstitial grains, and with composition 
Ab 83 An n Or 6 ; chondrules ranging from distinct 
to poorly defined; a matrix which is relatively 
coarse-grained and recrystallised; and distinct 
kamacite and taenite grains. On these grounds, 
the Bealiba meteorite is best classified as an L6 
chondrite. 
CONCLUSION 
Meteorite discoveries are uncommon in Vic¬ 
toria, although ironically the fall of the rare car¬ 
bonaceous chondrite at Murchison in Sep¬ 
tember 1969 is one of the best-documented and 
most spectacular of all known meteoritic events. 
Bealiba is only the tenth Victorian meteorite de¬ 
scribed (Henry 1988, Fitzgerald 1980) and the 
second L6 chondrite. The first L6 chrondrite, 
the Kulnine Meteorite, is a single stone of 55 kg 
collected on Kulnine Station west of Mildura 
around 1886 (Walcott 1916). It has some un¬ 
usual chemical and textural features suggestive 
of higher than usual crystallisation temperatures 
and possible “shock” recrystallisation (Mason 
1973). Based on the 300 km separation of their 
discovery sites and their different features, the 
Bealiba and Kulnine meteorites represent dis¬ 
tinct fall events. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
I am grateful for the information kindly pro¬ 
vided by Alva and Mary Renshaw, sisters of the 
discoverer, the late J. E. Renshaw. Dermot 
Henry assisted the investigation, both in the 
field and in the laboratory, and Susan Henry 
