HENBURY: RE-EVALUATION OF EVIDENCE

Abstract

Henbury crater field, distribution of meteorites and incident direction. Individual meteorites in the North-East and East of the craters were produced by successive fragmentations of the incoming body at altitudes around 20 – 25 km. Secondary fragmentations contributed both, to a mixed mass-distribution pattern of meteorites on the ground and to a widening of the strewnfield. Note the general shift of lighter fragments to the south of the incident axis. The catastrophic final breakup occurred at between 3 km and 10 km altitude producing two projectile clusters with velocity components transversal to the pre-fragmentation flight path. Momentum conservation of this fragmentation event led to a “downward” directed thrust of one projectile cluster, resulting in the formation of the main crater group further uprange, and an “upward” acceleration of the other projectile cluster, resulting in the SW crater group further downrange (“downward” meaning a momentum orthogonal to the trajectory in reference to the ground, and “upward” towards the opposite direction).