Turtle Lake                         45°20.75'N, 92°3.1'W

Clayton, Barron County, Wisconsin, USA

Fall: 21 October 1996

Ordinary chondrite (L5)

History: A small stone hit the windshield of a car owned by Mr. Rick Wirth of 971 5th Street, Clayton, Wisconsin, USA on the night of 21 October 1996. The stone made a grapefruit-sized fracture in the windshield of the car, which was parked outside Mr. Wirth’s home. On the morning of October 21, one fragment of the stone was discovered lying in the windshield-wiper well, and a second was lying on the snow-covered ground nearby. These two fragments fit together. Lack of fusion crust on one side of the object indicates that a part of the mass was not recovered.

Physical characteristics: The total mass of the two fragments was 89.3 g. The interior of the stone is light gray and includes dark chondrules and metal.

Petrography: (C. Alexander, UMin, G. Huss, UH) Chondrules and matrix show considerable recrystallization. Clinoenstatite grains are abundant. There are no large plagioclase grains. Olivine grains show undulatory extinction and some planar fractures. There is no evidence of weathering.

Mineral compositions and Geochemistry: Mean olivine composition is Fa_24.2±0.3. Mean low-Ca pyroxene is Fs_20.0±0.3.

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L5); S3, W1.

Type specimens: The main mass of 84 g is on deposit in the UMin.