Description, Chemical Composition and Noble Gases of the Chondrite Nogata

Abstract

An ordinary chondrite weighing 472 g kept in the Shinto shrine, Suga Jinja, Nogata-shi, Fukuoka-ken, Japan. as INTRODUCTIONIt is well known that the meteorite recorded as the oldest observed fall in the world is the chondrite, Ensisheim, Alsace, France, dated as November 16,149216, (Hey, 1966 87 course, there are many records of meteorite-falls in the world before that, but specimens of these have not been retained.In 1979, an amateur astronomer, T. Magome, brought information about a meteorite to one of the authors, S.M., about a meteorite-like stone that had been kept in a Shinto Shrine, Suga Jinja, Nogata-shi, Fukuoka-ken, Japan, as a treasure of the Shrine. The stone, weighing 472 g, has the typical features of achondrite, and the date of the fall was written on the lid of a wooden box in which the stone was stored, as April 7, Jogan 3, corresponding to May 19, 861 on the Julian Calendar.By courtesy of the Shinto priest of Suga Jinja, M. Iwakuma, a piece ofthe specimen was given to us for scientific study. We divided this specimen into four parts: The first one was for mineralogical and petrographical studies, the second for analyses of chemical composition, major elements and chemical species, the third for extraction and determination of noble gases and the fourth for the determination of 53Mn. In addition, the whole stone was lent to us for measurement of natural radioactivities, mainly from 26AI and 4°K by Ge(Li) V-ray spectrometer without any treatment.In this report, we describe the circumstances of fall and results obtained in the above mentioned studies. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF FALLThere are several annals, historical descriptions, and tales of the city of Nogata and of Suga Jinja, where the stone was kept. One of these, the most trustworthy article, Annals of Old-Shimosakai-mura (a part of Nogata-shi at present), was published in November 1927, and described the stone as follows: "On April 7, Jogan 3, 1066 years ago, a great detonation occurred in the precinct of the shrine, Suga Jinja, in this village. Villagers filled with surprise found a strange stone of fist-size falling onto the building of the shrine. It was called a flying stone, and is still kept at the Iwakurna's. The stone is 480 g in weight, triangular in shape, and brownish black in color covered with iron rust. According to the tradition, a brilliant flash was seen, accompanied by the detonation on the night ofthe meteorite fall; a black stone was found at the bottom of a newly made hole in the ground of the precinct (Shitama, 1979).In 1922, K. Yamada, a principal ofChikuho Mining School, recognized the stone as a meteorite (The Annals, 1927), but it was not reported to the scientific world.The shrine, Suga Jinja, is noted in history. The Annals (1927) records, "The shrine used to be called Butoku Jinja. In Tempyo 7 (735 A.D.), a religious service was offered for suppression of an epidemic disease in the country under the order of the local government, and in Jogan 15 (873 A.D.), the shrine was renamed Gion Jinja. It was a religious ce...

Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756–1827) and the origins of modern meteorite research

“…Indeed, it was believed to be the first in the world until scientists learned in 1979 of a stone preserved in a Shinto Shrine at Nogata-shi, Japan, for which credible dating methods confirmed an oral tradition that it had been seen to fall on May 19, A.D. 861. The stone was analyzed for its chemical and isotopic composition, classified as ordinary L6 chondrite, and returned to the shrine (Shima et al 1983;Marvin 2006:16-22).…”

A contemporary account of the Ensisheim meteorite, 1492

“…THE STONE METEORITE WHICH FELL near Ensisheim, Alsace, in November 1492 is the oldest preserved fall ofwhich appreciable remains are extant and available for research. [The oldest preserved fall is that of Nogata, 861 A.D. (Shima et al, 1983)]. Indicative of the interest aroused by the stone's fiery trajectory is a report from Siena by the chronicler Sigismondo Tizio, which includes an illustration and a descriptive Latin poem, Defulgetra Anni 1492, which had been published as a broadsheet in Basel by the prolific German poet Sebastian Brant.…”