A statistical analysis of the H/L ratio of ordinary chondrite finds and falls: A comparison of Oman finds with other populations

Kouvatsis, Ioannis; Hofmann, Beda A. (2020). A statistical analysis of the H/L ratio of ordinary chondrite finds and falls: A comparison of Oman finds with other populations. Meteoritics & planetary science, 55(1), pp. 67-76. Meteoritical Society at the University of Arkansas, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry 10.1111/maps.13410

[img] Text
Kouvatsis&Hofmann 2020.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (961kB) | Request a copy

Hot and cold deserts have been thoroughly searched for meteorites in the past decades, which has led to a large inventory of classified meteorites. H‐ and L‐chondrites are the most abundant meteorites in all collections, and many authors used the H/L ratio as a characteristic parameter in comparing meteorite populations. H/L ratios (after pairing) vary from 0.90 in observed falls up to 1.74 in El Médano (Atacama Desert). In this study, we investigate the H/L ratio of 965 unpaired H‐ and L‐chondrites collected in Oman and compare this population with observed falls and other hot desert collections. We find a mass dependence of the H/L ratio among hot desert finds and identify mechanisms such as fragmentation during weathering and fall that have an impact on the H/L ratio. We employ the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Mann–Whitney U statistical tests to compare the mass distributions of H‐ and L‐chondrites and to test the relationship between the similarity of mass distributions and the H/L ratio. We conclude that the variations of the H/L ratios observed in various populations are a sampling artifact resulting from secondary effects and observational bias, expressed in differences of the H and L mass distributions which are not observed in falls, and not due to variations in H/L of the meteorite flux. The H/L ratio of 0.90 observed among recent falls is considered as most representative for the overall meteorite flux, at least since the Late Pleistocene.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geological Sciences
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geological Sciences > Petrology

UniBE Contributor:

Hofmann, Beda Anton

Subjects:

500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
500 Science

ISSN:

1086-9379

Publisher:

Meteoritical Society at the University of Arkansas, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Language:

English

Submitter:

Beda Anton Hofmann

Date Deposited:

15 Oct 2020 16:43

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:33

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/maps.13410

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.147069

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/147069

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback