The reserve is located 125 km (78 mi) south west of Alice Springs and contains over a dozen craters, which were formed when a fragmented meteorite hit the Earth’s surface.[citation needed]
Henbury is one of five meteorite impact sites in Australia with remaining meteorite fragments and one of the world's best preserved examples of a small crater field.[3][4] Henbury was the earliest documented example of impact cratering in Australia.[5]
At Henbury there are 13 to 14 craters ranging from 7 to 180 m (23 to 591 ft) in diameter and up to 15 m (49 ft) in depth that were formed when the meteor broke up before impact. Several tonnes of iron-nickel fragments have been recovered from the site. The site has been dated to ≤4.7 thousand years ago based on the cosmogenic 14C terrestrial age of the meteorite[6] and 4.2±1.9 thousand years ago using fission track dating.[7]
The craters are named for Henbury Station, a nearby cattle station named in 1875 for the family home of its founders at Henbury in Dorset, England. The craters were discovered in 1899 by the manager of the station, then went uninvestigated until interest was stirred when the Karoonda meteorite fell on South Australia in 1930.[8] The first scientific investigations of the site were conducted by A.R. Alderman of the University of Adelaide who published the results in a 1932 paper entitled The Meteorite Craters at Henbury Central Australia.[9] Numerous studies have been undertaken since.
The largest crater at the impact site.
Cultural significanceedit
Map of the Henbury craters in Australia. The dashed line indicates the limit of ejecta from the larger craters.
The Henbury crater field lies at the crossroads of several Aboriginal language groups, including Arrernte, Luritja, Pitjantjatjarra, and Yankunytjatjara. It is considered a sacred site to the Arrernte people and would have formed during human habitation of the area.[10] J.M. Mitchell[11] said that older Aboriginal people would not camp within a couple of miles of the Henbury craters. An elder Aboriginal man who accompanied Mitchell to the site explained that Aboriginal people would not drink rainwater that collected in the craters, fearing the "fire-devil" would fill them with a piece of iron. The man claimed his paternal grandfather had seen the fire-devil and that he came from the Sun. An Aboriginal contact said of the crater field: tjintu waru tjinka yapu tjinka kurdaitcha kuka, which roughly translates in the Luritja language as "A fiery devil ran down from the Sun and made his home in the Earth. He will burn and eat any bad blackfellows." This indicates a living memory of the event.[12]
A different story was recorded by Charles Mountford [13] that attributed the largest crater's formation to an anthropomorphic lizard woman (called Mulumura) tossing soil out of the crater, forming its bowl-shape. The soil discarded by Mulumura explained the piles of meteoritic iron around the craters and the presence of ejecta rays (which are unique to terrestrial impacts but are now gone due to prospecting at the site).[14] This probably relates to Dreaming stories about ancestral lizard beings from the area of Henbury station near the Finke River, just north of the crater field. The Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory give the Arrernte name for the crater field as Tatyeye Kepmwere (or Tatjakapara).
^ ab"Place Names Register Extract for "Henbury Meteorite Craters"". NT Place Names Register. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
^ abc"Terrestrial Protected Areas by Reserve Type in the Northern Territory (2012)". Department of Environment. 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
^Haines P.W. (2005). Impact cratering and distal ejecta: the Australian record. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, Volume 52, pp. 481–507. Abstract
^Milton, Daniel J; United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1968), Structural geology of the Henbury meteorite craters, Northern Territory, Australia, U.S. Govt. Print. Off, retrieved 31 January 2020
^Haines P.W. (2005). Impact cratering and distal ejecta: the Australian record. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, Volume 52, p. 482 'History of discovery and investigations'
^Kohman T. P. and Goel P.S. (1963). Terrestrial ages of meteorites from cosmogenic 14C. In: Radioactive Dating, pp. 395–411. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.
^Alderman, A.R. (1931). The meteorite craters at Henbury, Central Australia with an addendum by L.J. Spencer, "Mineralogical Magazine", Volume 23, pp. 19-32.
^Hamacher, D.W. and Norris, R.P (2009). Australian Aboriginal Geomythology: Eyewitness Accounts of Cosmic Impacts? Archaeoastronomy: the Journal of Astronomy and Culture, Volume 22, pp. 62-95. Bibcode:2009Arch...22...62H
^Mitchell, J.M. (1934). Meteorite Craters - Old Prospector's Experiences. The Advertiser, Adelaide, South Australia, Thursday, 11 January 1934, p. 12.
^Hamacher, D.W. and Goldsmith, J. (2013). Aboriginal Oral Traditions of Australian Impact Craters 20 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Volume 16(3), pp. 295-311
^Mountford, C.P. (1976). Nomads of the Australian Desert. Rigby, Ltd., Adelaide, pp. 259-260.
^Buhl, S.; McColl, D. (2012). Henbury Craters and Meteorites: Their Discovery, History, and Study. Springer Press.
^"Henbury Meteorite Craters Conservation Reserve, Ernest Giles Rd, Alice Springs (sic), NT, Australia - listing on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate (Place ID 193)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. 21 October 1980. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
^"Henbury Meteorite Craters". Heritage Register. Northern Territory Government. 13 August 2003. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
Literatureedit
Svend Buhl, Don McColl: Henbury Craters & Meteorites - Their Discovery, History and Study. Edited by S. Buhl, Meteorite Recon, Hamburg 2012, ISBN978-3-00-039026-5.
External linksedit
Official website
Mindat.org - Henbury meteorite, Henbury Cattle Station, Alice Springs, Gardiner Range, MacDonnell Shire, Northern Territory, Australia
henbury, meteorites, conservation, reserve, protected, area, northern, territory, australia, located, locality, ghan, ghan, northern, territoryiucn, category, natural, monument, feature, nearest, town, cityalice, springscoordinates24, 57250, 14778, 57250, 1477. Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the locality of Ghan 1 Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve Ghan 1 Northern TerritoryIUCN category III natural monument or feature 2 Henbury Meteorites Conservation ReserveHenbury Meteorites Conservation ReserveNearest town or cityAlice SpringsCoordinates24 34 21 S 133 8 52 E 24 57250 S 133 14778 E 24 57250 133 14778Established1964 2 Area16 hectares 40 acres 2 Managing authoritiesParks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern TerritorySee alsoProtected areas of the Northern Territory Henbury craters are a result of one of the few impact events that have occurred in a populated area few other examples are Kaali crater in Estonia and 2007 Carancas impact event in Peru Contents 1 Description 2 Meteorite impact craters 3 Cultural significance 4 See also 5 References 6 Literature 7 External linksDescription editThe reserve is located 125 km 78 mi south west of Alice Springs and contains over a dozen craters which were formed when a fragmented meteorite hit the Earth s surface citation needed Henbury is one of five meteorite impact sites in Australia with remaining meteorite fragments and one of the world s best preserved examples of a small crater field 3 4 Henbury was the earliest documented example of impact cratering in Australia 5 Meteorite impact craters editHenbury craters nbsp nbsp Henbury cratersAsteroid impact location in AustraliaImpact crater structureConfidenceConfirmedDiameter7 to 180 m 23 to 591 ft Depth15 m 49 ft Age4 700 years oldCountryAustralia At Henbury there are 13 to 14 craters ranging from 7 to 180 m 23 to 591 ft in diameter and up to 15 m 49 ft in depth that were formed when the meteor broke up before impact Several tonnes of iron nickel fragments have been recovered from the site The site has been dated to 4 7 thousand years ago based on the cosmogenic 14C terrestrial age of the meteorite 6 and 4 2 1 9 thousand years ago using fission track dating 7 The craters are named for Henbury Station a nearby cattle station named in 1875 for the family home of its founders at Henbury in Dorset England The craters were discovered in 1899 by the manager of the station then went uninvestigated until interest was stirred when the Karoonda meteorite fell on South Australia in 1930 8 The first scientific investigations of the site were conducted by A R Alderman of the University of Adelaide who published the results in a 1932 paper entitled The Meteorite Craters at Henbury Central Australia 9 Numerous studies have been undertaken since nbsp The largest crater at the impact site Cultural significance edit nbsp Map of the Henbury craters in Australia The dashed line indicates the limit of ejecta from the larger craters The Henbury crater field lies at the crossroads of several Aboriginal language groups including Arrernte Luritja Pitjantjatjarra and Yankunytjatjara It is considered a sacred site to the Arrernte people and would have formed during human habitation of the area 10 J M Mitchell 11 said that older Aboriginal people would not camp within a couple of miles of the Henbury craters An elder Aboriginal man who accompanied Mitchell to the site explained that Aboriginal people would not drink rainwater that collected in the craters fearing the fire devil would fill them with a piece of iron The man claimed his paternal grandfather had seen the fire devil and that he came from the Sun An Aboriginal contact said of the crater field tjintu waru tjinka yapu tjinka kurdaitcha kuka which roughly translates in the Luritja language as A fiery devil ran down from the Sun and made his home in the Earth He will burn and eat any bad blackfellows This indicates a living memory of the event 12 A different story was recorded by Charles Mountford 13 that attributed the largest crater s formation to an anthropomorphic lizard woman called Mulumura tossing soil out of the crater forming its bowl shape The soil discarded by Mulumura explained the piles of meteoritic iron around the craters and the presence of ejecta rays which are unique to terrestrial impacts but are now gone due to prospecting at the site 14 This probably relates to Dreaming stories about ancestral lizard beings from the area of Henbury station near the Finke River just north of the crater field The Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory give the Arrernte name for the crater field as Tatyeye Kepmwere or Tatjakapara In 1980 the conservation reserve was listed on the now defunct Register of the National Estate 15 The craters were listed as one item on the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 13 August 2003 16 See also edit nbsp Geology portal Chambers Pillar Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve Uluṟu Kata Tjuṯa National Park Watarrka National Park West MacDonnell National ParkReferences edit a b Place Names Register Extract for Henbury Meteorite Craters NT Place Names Register Northern Territory Government Retrieved 26 April 2019 a b c Terrestrial Protected Areas by Reserve Type in the Northern Territory 2012 Department of Environment 2012 Retrieved 11 April 2015 Haines P W 2005 Impact cratering and distal ejecta the Australian record Australian Journal of Earth Sciences Volume 52 pp 481 507 Abstract Milton Daniel J United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration 1968 Structural geology of the Henbury meteorite craters Northern Territory Australia U S Govt Print Off retrieved 31 January 2020 Haines P W 2005 Impact cratering and distal ejecta the Australian record Australian Journal of Earth Sciences Volume 52 p 482 History of discovery and investigations Kohman T P and Goel P S 1963 Terrestrial ages of meteorites from cosmogenic 14C In Radioactive Dating pp 395 411 International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna Henbury Earth Impact Database Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton Retrieved 19 August 2009 Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve Draft Plan of Management 2002 Archived 2006 09 17 at the Wayback Machine Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory ISBN 0 7245 2765 6 Alderman A R 1931 The meteorite craters at Henbury Central Australia with an addendum by L J Spencer Mineralogical Magazine Volume 23 pp 19 32 Hamacher D W and Norris R P 2009 Australian Aboriginal Geomythology Eyewitness Accounts of Cosmic Impacts Archaeoastronomy the Journal of Astronomy and Culture Volume 22 pp 62 95 Bibcode 2009Arch 22 62H Mitchell J M 1934 Meteorite Craters Old Prospector s Experiences The Advertiser Adelaide South Australia Thursday 11 January 1934 p 12 Hamacher D W and Goldsmith J 2013 Aboriginal Oral Traditions of Australian Impact Craters Archived 20 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage Volume 16 3 pp 295 311 Mountford C P 1976 Nomads of the Australian Desert Rigby Ltd Adelaide pp 259 260 Buhl S McColl D 2012 Henbury Craters and Meteorites Their Discovery History and Study Springer Press Henbury Meteorite Craters Conservation Reserve Ernest Giles Rd Alice Springs sic NT Australia listing on the now defunct Register of the National Estate Place ID 193 Australian Heritage Database Australian Government 21 October 1980 Retrieved 17 March 2019 Henbury Meteorite Craters Heritage Register Northern Territory Government 13 August 2003 Retrieved 26 April 2019 Literature editSvend Buhl Don McColl Henbury Craters amp Meteorites Their Discovery History and Study Edited by S Buhl Meteorite Recon Hamburg 2012 ISBN 978 3 00 039026 5 External links editOfficial website Mindat org Henbury meteorite Henbury Cattle Station Alice Springs Gardiner Range MacDonnell Shire Northern Territory Australia Records Preceded byRio Cuarto craters The last impact event on Earth4 2 thousand years ago 1300 BC Succeeded byKaali crater Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve amp oldid 1163018870, 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