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Have
meteorites or meteorite craters been found in Utah?
by William F. Case
Meteorite finds in Utah.
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Utah Meteorites
Eighteen meteorite finds in Utah are listed in the Meteoritical Society's Meteoritical Bulletin Database. Most likely there are meteorite finds and falls in Utah that are
not reported. Meteorite numbers
in neighboring states range from 215 in New Mexico to six in Idaho.
Utah’s meteorites are the stony and iron types.
Stony meteorites are the most diverse group of meteorites. They
come from a parent body of primordial material that, unlike the
Earth, did not differentiate into layers such as a core, mantle,
and crust.
Iron meteorites are the most familiar meteorites. They are heavy
because they are mainly iron-nickel alloy, they do not weather very
fast, they do not easily fragment when they fall, and, like the stony meteorites, they are magnetic.
Iron meteorites come from the core of differentiated bodies.
Five iron meteorites have been found in Utah. The eighth heaviest
(529 kg, 1164 lbs) iron meteorite in the U.S. was found near Delta,
Utah.
Utah Meteorites
(data
from Hey, 1966; Grady, 2000, Meteoritical Bulletin Database) |
| Name |
Type |
Date |
Weight,
kg |
Weight,
Lbs
(calculated) |
Comments |
| Garland |
Stoney |
1950 |
0.1 |
0.22 |
Seen falling, summer, 11AM; 1 stone recovered, Box Elder County. |
| Salt Lake City |
Stoney |
1869 |
0.88 |
1.96 |
Found between Salt Lake City & Echo, Summit County |
| Altonah |
Iron |
1932 |
22 |
48.4 |
Found 0.6km (0.4mi) SE of Moon Lake outlet, Duchesne County. |
| Duchesne |
Iron |
1961 |
23 |
50.6 |
Found 47km (31mi) NW of Duchesne on Mount Tabby, Duchesne County. |
| Ioka |
Stoney |
1931 |
0.3 |
0.66 |
Weathered stone exposed by plow, Duchesne County. |
| Drum Mountains |
Iron |
1944 |
529 |
1164 |
Eighth heaviest in U.S., found on basalt, Millard County. |
| Sunstone Knoll |
Stoney |
1985 |
0.16 |
0.35 |
Single mass found on west shore of Little Salt Lake, Millard County. |
| Salina |
Iron |
1908 |
0.24 |
0.59 |
Weathered mass & balls with metallic core, found in Pavant
Mountains, Sevier County. |
| Wah Wah Valley |
Stoney |
1986 |
0.009 |
0.02 |
Mass found on dry lake bed; NW corner of Wah Wah Valley hardpan, Millard County. |
| Beaver-Harrison |
Stoney |
1979 |
0.93 |
2.1 |
Found on alluvial fan near mine, Beaver Lake Mountains, Beaver County. |
| Poison Spring |
Iron |
1971 |
0.524 |
1.16 |
Wayne County |
| Tule Valley |
Stoney |
2001 |
0.017 |
0.04 |
Found on dry lake bed, Millard County. |
| Greener Reservoir |
Stoney |
2004 |
0.045 |
0.1 |
Found in dry wash, Millard County. |
| Park City |
Iron |
prior to 1935 |
12.3 |
27.12 |
Acquired by William Cole prior to 1935. Fifty years later his wife recalls that he got it while working at the Silver King mine but doesn't know where it was found. |
| Canyonlands |
Stoney |
1961 |
1.52 |
3.34 |
Partly encrusted stone found near confluence of Green &
Colorado Rivers, San Juan County. |
| Arches |
Stoney |
2001 |
0.534 |
1.18 |
Found near sandstone cliff, Grand County. |
| Cricket Mountains |
Stoney |
1985 |
0.016 |
0.04 |
Found on dry lake bed, Millard County. |
| Gunlock |
Stoney |
1982 |
6.8 |
14.96 |
Two pieces that fit together were found 0.05km (0.03mi) apart
on the south slope of Padre Hill, Washington County. The largest piece resides at UGS. |
Meteorite Craters
Impact (meteorite) craters in Utah and nearby states.
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The Geological Survey of Canada Impact Database lists four meteorite
craters in Utah and nearby states. They are
- the controversial (some think it is a salt dome) Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands National Park, Utah,
- Beaverhead Crater, Montana,
- Barringer Crater (Canyon Diablo, Meteor Crater), Arizona, and
- Cloud Creek Crater, Wyoming (known only from drilling records).
References
Additional information on meteorites can be found in the following
references, which provided the data summarized in this article:
Drum Mountains meteorite before it was moved and sliced for analyses.
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Geological Survey of Canada, June 9, 2003, Earth Impact Database.
Grady, M.M., 2000, Catalogue of Meteorites, 5th Edition: National
History Museum, London, 690 p.
Henderson, E.P. and Perry, S.H., 1948, Smithsonian Miscellaneous
Collections, v.110, no. 12, 7 p., 5 pl.
Hey, M.H., 1966, Catalogue of Meteorites, 3rd Edition: National
History Museum, London, 637 p.
The Meteoritical Society, International Society for Meteorites and Planetary Science, March 6, 2008, Meteoritical Bulletin Database
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