Canadian scientists begin examination of hundreds of meteorites

by Rich Bowden - Dec 23 2008, 00:07

Scientists from the University of Calgary and the University of Western Ontario have combined to begin the task of examining hundreds of meteorites which fell in a spectacular display over Saskatchewan on Nov. 20.

The number of meteorites appears to have fell in the thousands over fields on the border of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Dr. Alan Hildebrand, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Science at the University of Calgary, described the effort needed by researchers to locate the fragments before December snowfalls.

“Finding all we could before the snow came on December 6 was a real challenge and tough on searchers with wind chills routinely colder than –20 degrees,” said Dr. Hildebrand in a university news release. “We did as well as we did by collaborating with experienced researchers from The University of Western Ontario including Dr. Phil McCausland and Dr. Peter Brown.” Brown and McCausland are both experts in meteorite recovery.

Dr. Hildebrand estimated that more than 10,000 fragments fell in across the region, a new Canadian record surpassing the meteorite event which occurred in 1960 at Bruderheim, Alberta.

He added that further search efforts will continue in spring after the snows melt where the team expect to find thousands more fragments.

“During the spring before cultivating and seeding, we will try to organize the biggest meteorite search effort that Canada has ever seen,” Dr. Hildebrand said. “One of our ambitions at the Prairie Meteorite Search project is to train everyone in the country to recognize meteorites so more new ones will be discovered, and this is a great opportunity to introduce hundreds of people to rocks from space.”

Scientists will now turn their attention to studying the recovered meteorites and the clues they may give to the history of the asteroid fragment.

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