DISCOVERY OF THE RIVERTON, MANITOBA, STONY METEORITE

Name: RIVERTON

Place of find: 7 km south of Riverton, Manitoba, Canada. 50^°56.4'N, 96^°59.5' W.

Date of ford: 1960 or 1961, recognized 1968

Class and type: Stone. Olivine-bronzite chondrite (H5) (Olivine Fa_20.1 by microprobe analysis)

Number of individual specimens: 1, now in three pieces.

Total weight: 103.3 g

Circumstances of find: One stone was picked up in a pasture in the southwest quarter of section 33 of township 22, range 4E, Manitoba (lat. 50^°56.4'N; long. 96^°59.5'W), about 7 km south of Riverton, Manitoba and about 2 km west of the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. The field has since been broken out and planted. The stone was first recognized by Glenn Huss in 1968, at which time it was in three distinctly weathered pieces weighing 76.2 g, 24.8 g, and 2.3 g. The first and third pieces are at the American Meteorite Laboratory, Denver, Colorado; the 24.8 g piece is now in the National Meteorite Collection, Ottawa. Examination of the latter shows it to be strongly fractured, with the metals oxidised to a considerable extent. Chondrules with typical textures are well preserved. The classification is based on microprobe analysis of 10 olivine crystals of uniform composition.

Sources: Glenn I Huss, American Meteorite Laboratory, Denver, Colorado 80201 USA, H.R. Steacy and A.G. Plant, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A OE8, M.R. Dence, Earth Physics Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, KIA OE4.