catalogue of western australian meteorite collections

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Introduction
This catalogue has been prepared to overcome the lack of unified coverage
of the various important meteorite collections in Western Australia and because
of increasing interest in the scientific study of meteorites at the present time.
The catalogue covers the principal collection, that of the Museum, which also
includes a large number of,specimens on permanent loan from the Geological
Survey of Western Australia. Various other minor collections in the State
have, however, also been included, to provide as complete coverage as possible.
The most important information in this catalogue is that concerning Western
Australian finds and falls, but specimens in the collections from other parts
of Australia and from countries outside Australia have been given brief entries.
Australites and other varieties of tektites have not been included since it is
intended to publish a, second volume of this catalogue dealing specifically with
the substantial and very importantaustralite collections held in this State.
A brief history of the collections is given and the basis for classifications
used in this catalogue and to be used in anY.future supplements to this catalogue
is fully recorded,. The section dealing with detailed, information about the
individual meteorites is prepared on an alphabetical basis according to the names
of the various meteorites. References are given in this section to mentions
in the literature and, for convenience, a separate list of general references is
included (p. 17). The detailed information concerns only the Western Australian
finds or falls and only in these cases are references to the literature given.
The'reader interested in obtaining further information concerning other meteorites
in this catalogue should refer to either the Catalogue of Australian Meteorites
(Hodge-Smith 1939) or to the British Museum Catalogue (Prior and Hey 1953).
The map (Fig. 1) shows the locations of all Western Australian finds, falls
and possible impact craters known at the time of writing (August 1963), but
one or two of these entries are not as closely defined with respect to location
as could be wished.
NOMENCLATURE
A list of synonyms which have, from time to time, been used for Western
Australian meteorite finds and falls included in this catalogue is given pn p. 63.
It has been the endeavour of the authors to use the name most widely accepted
in the literature and as far as possible to restrict the use of number I, n, etc.,
,as suffixes to groups of several, specimens reasonably believed to stem from a
single fall. The usage in Western Australia has, however, been to some extent
unsystematic: for example the adoption of the name" Youndegin'" for a series
of iron meteorites which has no real basis ,for association with the Youndegin
locality, situated to the east of York. In, addition, some specimens which appear
to derive from the same fall have previously been given new locational names,
not numerical suffixes-e.g. Mooranoppin and Mount Stirling-almost certainly
part of the Youndegin fall. It has been decided to use new names for any new
finds which have been made in this neighbourhood subsequent to the eight
" Youndegin" finds listed by Simpson (1938), because of the irrelevance of
the' name" Youndegin." Thus the very large meteorite recovered from the
same locality since that time has been termed the Quairading meteorite, but is
in all probability (considering'mineralogical similarities) part of the same fall.
The names Mooranoppin I and n have been abandoned, all specimens from
Mooranoppin (which in any case are of very doubtfullocational provenance)
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