The Winchcombe meteorite, a unique and pristine witness from the outer solar system
A. J. King, Luke Daly, James B. Rowe, K. H. Joy, R. C. Greenwood, Hadrien A. R. Devillepoix, Martin D. Suttle, Q. H. S. Chan, S. S. Russell, H. C. Bates, J. F. J. Bryson, P. L. Clay, Denis Vida, Martin Lee, Áine O’Brien, L. J. Hallis, N. R. Stephen, Romain Tartèse, Eleanor K. Sansom, M. C. Towner, Martin Cupák, Patrick Shober, P. A. Bland, Ross Findlay, I. A. Franchi, A. B. Verchovsky, F. A. J. Abernethy, M. M. Grady, Cameron J. Floyd, Matthias Van Ginneken, J. C. Bridges, L. J. Hicks, R. H. Jones, Jennifer T. Mitchell, M. J. Genge, Laura E. Jenkins, Pierre‐Etienne Martin, Mark A. Sephton, Jonathan S. Watson, T. Salge, K. A. Shirley, R. J. Curtis, T. Warren, Neil E. Bowles, Finlay M. Stuart, Luigia Di Nicola, Domokos Györe, Adrian J. Boyce, Kathryn M. M. Shaw, Tim Elliott, Robert C. Steele, Pavel P. Povinec, M. Laubenstein, D.C.W. Sanderson, A.J. Cresswell, A. J. T. Jull, I. Sýkora, Sanjana Sridhar, R. J. Harrison, Francesca M. Willcocks, Catherine S. Harrison, Daniel Hallatt, P. J. Wozniakiewicz, M. J. Burchell, Luke S. Alesbrook, Aishling Dignam, N. V. Almeida, C. L. Smith, Brett Clark, Emma Humphreys‐Williams, P. F. Schofield, Luke T. Cornwell, Vassilia Spathis, Geraint Morgan, Mark J. Perkins, Richard Kacerek, Peter Campbell‐Burns, F. Colas, B. Zanda, Pierre Vernazza, Sylvain Bouley, Simon Jeanne, Mike Hankey, G. S. Collins, J. S. Young, Clive Shaw, Jana Horák, Dave Jones, Nick James, Steve Bosley, Alan Shuttleworth, Paul Dickinson, Ian McMullan, Derek Robson, Andrew R. D. Smedley, Ben Stanley, Richard Bassom, Mark McIntyre, Adam Suttle, Richard Fleet
Abstract
Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid. Recovered only hours after falling, the composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is largely unmodified by the terrestrial environment. It contains abundant hydrated silicates formed during fluid-rock reactions, and carbon- and nitrogen-bearing organic matter including soluble protein amino acids. The near-pristine hydrogen isotopic composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is comparable to the terrestrial hydrosphere, providing further evidence that volatile-rich carbonaceous asteroids played an important role in the origin of Earth's water.