Puerto Lápice meteorite, Camuñas, Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 39° 21' North , 3° 31' West |
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Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | 39.35000,-3.51667 |
GeoHash: | G#: eyvrzgrnr |
Other regions containing this locality: | Iberian Peninsula |
Locality type: | Meteorite Fall Location |
Meteorite Class: | Eucrite breccia meteorite |
Meteoritical Society Class: | Eucrite-br |
Metbull: | View entry in Meteoritical Bulletin Database |
Köppen climate type: | Csa : Hot-summer Mediterranean climate |
Name(s) in local language(s): | , Castilla-La Mancha, España |
Eucrite, brecciated; mass ~ 500 g
10 May 2007 Fall with Fireball
A spectacular daytime fireball brighter than the full moon was seen over most of Spain. Approximately 70 fragments have been recovered as of early 2009, but the total recovered mass was quite modest. Most, perhaps all, of the fragments are less massive than 10 grams. Nevertheless, the recovered pieces of this very brecciated eucrite still have a story to tell. The meteorite's mass is dominated by low-Ca pyroxene and calcic plagioclase (mostly bytownite) which are dispersed into various regions exhibiting both primary basaltic and recrystallized textures. Minor constituents include silica, troilite, and several other opaques (chromite, ilmenite, ulvöspinel). Textural and chemical differences abound. Several coarse-grained regions are richer in both ilmenite and silica than the rest of the meteorite. A fine-grained anorthite-normative clast may represent an impact melt breccia. Plagioclase, pyroxene, and spinels of varying composition, transecting veins, and maskelynite (glass of plagioclase composition) all indicate that this is indeed one very brecciated meteorite. At least three separate shock events have left their traces on different components. All such variations, however, are more or less within the range of known members of the eucritic group. And, indeed, oxygen isotopes and Fe/Mn ratios indicate that Puerto Lápice is a 'geochemically normal' member of the HED achondrite suite.
It may be a while before we are certain that the asteroid Vesta is the actual parent body of most HED meteorites (Howardites, Eucrite, and Diogenites). [This is the current usually favored hypothesis.] Puerto Lápice certainly seems to have come from a moderately large, airless, differentiated world similar to all that we think we now know about Vesta. At a minimum, Puerto Lápice does not present any obvious difficulties for the hypothesis that it is a fragment of Vesta.
Mineral List
6 valid minerals.
Meteorite/Rock Types Recorded
Select Rock List Type
Alphabetical List Tree DiagramRegional Geology
This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.
Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org
Pleistocene 0.0117 - 2.588 Ma ID: 2510254 | Age: Pleistocene (0.0117 - 2.588 Ma) Description: Conglomerate, gravel, sand, sandstone, silt and clay. Fluvial and marine terraces Lithology: Gravel, conglomerate, sand and silt Reference: Mapa Geológico de la Península Ibérica, Baleares y Canarias a escala 1:1.000.000. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. [77] |
Miocene 5.333 - 23.03 Ma ID: 3191268 | Cenozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Miocene (5.333 - 23.03 Ma) Lithology: Sedimentary rocks Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154] |
Ordovician 443.8 - 485.4 Ma ID: 3141104 | Ordovician quartzite Age: Ordovician (443.8 - 485.4 Ma) Description: undifferentiated metamorphic Lithology: Major:{quartzite}, Minor{shale/slate,greenschist,conglomerate} Reference: Asch, K. The 1:5M International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas: Development and Implementation of a GIS-enabled Concept. Geologisches Jahrbuch, SA 3. [147] |
Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License