![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe findings could inform future efforts to protect new meteorites after they are found. They could also help geological missions to asteroids and other planets keep their samples free of terrestrial contaminants once they return to Earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The paper\u2019s lead author is Laura Jenkins, a Ph.D. student at the University of Glasgow\u2019s School of Geographical & Earth Sciences.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cAnalysis of meteorites can provide insights into the asteroids they come from and how they have formed. Winchcombe and other meteorites like it contain extra-terrestrial water and organics, and the asteroids they come with may be responsible for delivering water to Earth, giving it enough water to form its distinctive oceans.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, when a meteorite is exposed to terrestrial contaminants, especially moisture, and oxygen, it undergoes changes, affecting the information it provides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a new paper published in the journal\u00a0Meteoritics & Planetary Science,\u00a0a University of Glasgow-led team of researchers\u00a0how examined two small pieces of Winchcombe for signs of terrestrial modifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They used scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy to scrutinize the surfaces of the samples. One sample was taken from the driveway fragments and the other from those found in the sheep field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They found that two forms of salt – sulfates of calcium and calcite – had formed on the fusion crust of samples recovered from the sheep field. Meanwhile, they observed halite, also known as table salt, on the sample taken from the driveway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fusion crust is the distinctive material formed when meteorites melt during their fiery entry into the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. The researchers conclude that, since the sulfates appeared on the outside of the fusion crust, it is likely that they appeared after it landed, as a result of exposure to damp conditions in the sheep field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the halite appeared only on the surface of polished sections of the driveway fragment. Since the polishing was done after the meteorite was recovered, it is likely that it was formed by the interaction of the rock slice with the humid laboratory air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenkins added: \u201cThe Winchcombe meteorite is often described as a \u2018pristine\u2019 example of a CM chondrite meteorite, and it\u2019s already yielded remarkable insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, what we\u2019ve shown with this study is that there\u2019s really no such thing as a pristine meteorite \u2013 terrestrial alteration begins the moment it encounters Earth\u2019s atmosphere, and we can see it in these samples which we analyzed just a couple of months after the meteorite landed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt shows just how reactive meteorites are to our atmosphere, and how careful we need to be about ensuring that we take this kind of terrestrial alteration into account when we analyze meteorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo minimize terrestrial alteration, meteorites should be stored in inert conditions if possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnderstanding which phases are extra-terrestrial and which are terrestrial in meteorites like Winchcombe will not only help our understanding of their formation but will also aid in relating meteorites that have landed on Earth to samples returned by sample return missions. A more complete picture of the asteroids in our solar system and their role in Earth\u2019s development can be built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Luke Daly, a co-author of the paper, is a lecturer at the University of Glasgow and part of the UK Fireball Alliance, or UKFall, the observation network which spotted the Winchcombe meteorite and estimated where it landed. Dr. Daly led the search party that recovered the largest chunk of the Winchcombe meteorite from a sheep field, where it was spotted by volunteer Mira Ihasz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: \u201cWe\u2019ve always known that exposure to Earth\u2019s atmosphere affects the surface of meteorites but this is the first time we\u2019ve been able to see just how quickly the process can begin and advance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were very lucky to be able to recover the Winchcombe meteorite so quickly through the monitoring of the UKFall network and the efforts of the volunteers who helped us recover the largest pieces from the field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis research shows just how vital it is that we keep watching the skies and assemble search parties as quickly as possible after meteorites are spotted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The paper, titled \u2018Winchcombe: An Example of Rapid Terrestrial Alteration of a CM Chondrite \u2018, is published in early view in\u00a0Meteoritics & Planetary Scienc<\/em>e<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Researchers from the University of Glasgow, the Natural History Museum, and Imperial College London in the UK contributed to the paper, along with colleagues from the University of Sydney and Curtin University in Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The research was supported by funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment, and Society, the University of Glasgow, and UK Research and Innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite has revealed just how quickly space rocks that fall to Earth can be contaminated by our atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-science","category-research"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled-200x200.png",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled-539x400.png",539,400,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled-600x488.png",600,488,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled-600x488.png",600,488,true],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",657,488,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled-550x360.png",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled-95x65.png",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",640,475,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",96,71,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Winchcombe_EDS_labelled.png",150,111,false]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Earth Science<\/a> Research<\/a>","tag_info":"Research","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}