The meteorite of Barcelona (1704): history, discovery, and classification

Autor/a

Llorca, Jordi

Campeny, Marc

Ibáñez Cortina, Neus

Allepuz, David

Camarasa, Josep Maria

Aurell-Garrido, Josep

Data de publicació

2020-03-09



Resum

On Christmas Day 1704, at 17 h (UT), a meteorite fell in Terrassa (about 25 km NW of Barcelona). The meteorite fall was seen and heard by many people over an area of several hundred kilometers and it was recorded in several historical sources. In fact, it was interpreted as a divine sign and used for propaganda purposes during the War of the Spanish Succession. Although it was believed that meteorite fragments were never preserved, here we discuss the recent discovery of two fragments (49.8 and 33.7 g) of the Barcelona meteorite in the Salvador Cabinet collection (Botanic Institute of Barcelona). They are very well preserved and partially covered by a fresh fusion crust, which suggests a prompt recovery, shortly after the fall. Analysis of the fragments has revealed that the Barcelona meteorite is an L6 ordinary chondrite. These fragments are among the oldest historical meteorites preserved in the world.

Tipus de document

Article
Versió acceptada

Llengua

Anglès

Matèries CDU

55 - Geologia. Meteorologia

Paraules clau

Meteorits; Terrassa (Catalunya); Salvador (Família); Institut Botànic de Barcelona

Pàgines

38 p.

Publicat per

Wiley

És versió de

Meteoritics and planetary science, 9 March 2020

Documents

Llorca_etal_preprint_2020.pdf

9.053Mb

 

Drets

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Llorca, J., Campeny, M., Ibáñez, N., Allepuz, D., Camarasa, J.M. and Aurell‐Garrido, J. (2020), The meteorite of Barcelona (1704): History, discovery, and classification. Meteorit Planet Sci, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13455. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions (https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.html)

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