header
  MetSoc Home            Publications            Contacts  
Search the Meteoritical Bulletin Database
Last update: 26 Mar 2024
Search for: Search type: Search limits: Display: Publication:
Names
Text help
Places
Classes
Years
Contains
Starts with
Exact
Sounds like
NonAntarctic
Falls  Non-NWAs
What's new
  in the last:
Limit to approved meteorite names
Search text:
 
Thuathe
Basic information Name: Thuathe
     This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name.
Abbreviation: There is no official abbreviation for this meteorite.
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 2002
Country: Lesotho
Mass:help 45.3 kg
Classification
  history:
Meteoritical Bulletin:  MB 87  (2003)  H4/5
MetBase:  v. 7.1  (2006)  H4/5
Recommended:  H4/5    [explanation]

This is 1 of 499 approved meteorites classified as H4/5.   [show all]
Search for other: H chondrites, H chondrites (type 4-7), Ordinary chondrites, and Ordinary chondrites (type 4-7)
Writeuphelp
Writeup from MB 87:

Thuathe

Lesotho

Fell 2002 July 21, ~13:49 GMT

Ordinary chondrite (H4/5)

A meteorite travelling east to west exploded over Lesotho producing an elliptical strewn field extending 7.4 by 1.9 km (bearing: ~276°) on the westernmost lobe of the Thuathe (or Berea) Plateau, ~12 km east of the capital city of Maseru (approximate strewnfield apex coordinates: (W) 29°19′31′′S, 27°34′37′′E; (E) 29°19′54′′S, 27°39′19′′E; (N) 29°19′11′′S, 27°37′2′′E; (S) 29°20′14′′S, 27°36′54′′E). The explosion was accompanied by an extraordinarily loud, 15 s long noise which was heard over a large (100 km radius) area of Lesotho; the fall was eye-witnessed by several people who reported sightings of dust trails of “sparkling objects” over Lesotho and the southern part of the Free State Province of South Africa. Many villagers of Ha Ralimo, Boqate Ha Majara, and Boqate Ha Sofonia reported falls of stones close to themselves and onto their homes. The estimated total mass of recovered material is ~30 kg, including 418 stones in the 2 g to 2.4 kg mass range for a total of 24.673 kg which were collected and catalogued by A. Ashworth and David P. Ambrose (National University of Lesotho), one stone of 1.020 kg held by Dr. Molisana Molisana (National University of Lesotho), 5 stones acquired by the National Museum of Lesotho in Maseru, some were collected by the Geology Department, Free State University, Bloemfontein, and several others purchased by members of the public. Mineralogy and classification (W. U. Reimold, Wits; P. C. Buchanan, NIPR): most freshly cut slices from several stones show a homogeneous beige to light-grey lithology speckled with abundant and heterogeneously distributed (20% to, in exceptional cases, >50 vol%) metal particles; some are cross­cut by dark shock veinlets and show brecciated structure with light grey matrix surrounding lighter colored, well-rounded inclusions; chondrules distinctly recognizable; olivine Fa17.4 ± 0.8; shock stage S2/3. Specimens (numbers in brackets refer to the catalog by A. Ashworth and David P. Ambrose): 207 g (stone #58), Bleloch Museum, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand; 294 g (stone #59), 309 g (stone #60), 342 g (stone #61) plus four thin sections, one thin section of stone #58, Wolf Uwe Reimold (Wits); 67 g (stone #54), 45 g (stone #111), 110 g (stone #56), 146 g (stone #193), 16 g (stone #356), 15 g (stone #359), one thin section of stone #59 and #60, Paul C. Buchanan (NIPR); 127 g (stone #57), Christian Koeberl (UVienna); 5 stones of unknown weights, National Museum of Lesotho in Maseru; additional material at the Geology Department, Free State University, Bloemfontein

Institutions
   and collections
NIPR: Antarctic Meteorite Research Center, National Institute of Polar Research, 10-3 Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo 190-8518, Japan; Website (institutional address; updated 9 Dec 2013)
Wits: Curator of Fossil and Rock Collections c/o Evolutionary Studies Institute University of the Witwatersrand Private Bag 3 WITS 2050 Johannesburg South Africa, South Africa (institutional address; updated 3 May 2019)
UVienna: University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A1090 Vienna, Austria (institutional address)
Catalogs:
Search for specimens in the Smithsonian Institution collection (U.S.):   
    Require SI photo
Search for this meteorite in the Natural History Museum collection (U.K.):   
    Require NHM photo
References: Published in Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 87, MAPS 38, A189-A248 (2003)
Find references in NASA ADS:
Find references in Google Scholar:
Photos:
CreditPhotos
Photos from the Encyclopedia of Meteorites:
Island Meteorites   
Mark Bostick   
Mike Farmer   
Thuathe strewnfield   
Photos uploaded by members of the Encyclopedia of Meteorites.
    (Caution, these are of unknown reliability)
akira1988   
ale bartolommei-giulio M.   
chen wang   
Cute child   
David L. Ribeca   
Dirk Hohmann   
Edward Krikorian   
Gerald Armstrong   
Jean-Michel Masson   
Jim K      
John Tanner   
MeteoriteCollector.org - FCOM - Russ Finney         
METEORITES AUSTRALIA   
METEORITICON   
Michael S. Scherman   
Mike Smith   
Paulo Anselmo Matioli (JN Science Museum)   
Phil Schmitz         
Piotr gural100   
Robert Smart   
Robert Zdancewicz   
Ryan Upchurch   
Svend Buhl      
Torbjorn Hallberg   
Volker Heinrich   
Woreczko Jan & Wadi                        
Geography:

Lesotho
Coordinates:
     Recommended::   (29° 20'S, 27° 35'E)

Statistics:
     This is the only approved meteorite from Berea, Lesotho
     This is the only approved meteorite from Lesotho
Proximity search:
Find nearby meteorites: enter search radius (km):
Also see:
  This lists the most popular meteorites among people who looked up this meteorite.

Direct link to this page