description Semarkona Overview
Semarkona is an LL3.00 ordinary chondrite that fell near Semarkona, India, in 1940. Its minerals experienced exceptionally little thermal metamorphism on their parent asteroid, preserving chondrules, fine-grained material, and other evidence from the early solar system. Researchers use it to investigate primordial water, organic chemistry, magnetic fields, and the processes that formed the first solid planetary materials.
insights Ranking position
Semarkona ranks #13 of 213 in the Meteorite ranking, behind Allende, ahead of Tissint.
help Semarkona FAQ
Why is the Semarkona meteorite classified as LL3.0?
Semarkona preserves unusually unaltered chondrules and fine-grained material, earning it the type 3.0 designation at the primitive end of the ordinary-chondrite scale. The LL classification indicates an ordinary chondrite with low total iron and low metallic iron.
What makes Semarkona more scientifically valuable than most ordinary chondrites?
Most ordinary chondrites were substantially changed by heat inside their parent asteroids, but Semarkona experienced remarkably little thermal metamorphism. Its primitive minerals therefore preserve evidence about conditions in the early solar system.
Where and when did the Semarkona meteorite fall?
Semarkona fell near the village of Semarkona in Madhya Pradesh, India, in 1940. Because it was observed falling rather than discovered long afterward, researchers can distinguish it from material exposed to centuries of terrestrial weathering.
Does Semarkona contain evidence of water in the early solar system?
Studies of Semarkona have identified minerals and isotopic signatures associated with limited interaction between rock and water. That alteration occurred on its asteroid parent body while much of the meteorite remained exceptionally primitive.
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