The Kumtag Meteorite Strewn Field

Abstract The Kumtag meteorite strewn field was found in the Kumtag desert, 132 kilometers south of Hami city in the Xinjiang province, China. It is an ellipse of 2.5×7.9 km, with a long axis extending along the northeast-southwest direction. The largest individual meteorite of the strewn field weights about 10 kg; the smallest individual has as mass of only 27 g. In total more than 100 individuals with a total mass of more than 180 kg were collected. The Kumtag meteoroid entered the atmosphere in the direction Northeast-Southwest. All meteorites collected in this strewn field are samples from the same unique meteorite shower. The Kumtag meteorite is an H5 ordinary chondrite with a shock stage S2, and a weathering grade W2. The cosmic ray exposure age of Kumtag is 6.7± 0.8 Ma, which is rather typical for H chondrites and which indicates that Kumtag was derived from the massive impact event on its parent body ~7 Ma ago. A significant He amount has been released during certain unknown processe(s) before the Kumtag meteorite was ejected from its parent body.