Howardites
Student Editions · Ages 15–17

Meteoritics for Students

A complete guide for GCSE and A-level students

Corvanelle Publishing

Meteorites are the oldest rocks we can hold, and reading them uses nuclear physics, chemistry, geology and orbital mechanics. This guide runs from nucleosynthesis and radioactive clocks to CAIs dated at 4,567 million years, chondrules, petrologic types, the oxygen three-isotope plot and the NC–CC divide, then to asteroid cores, Vesta, the Moon and Mars, exposure ages, fireball orbits, Chelyabinsk, Chicxulub and DART, organics and the ALH 84001 debate, and the Ryugu and Bennu samples. Fifty worked examples and 170 exam-style questions with full mark-scheme answers build the skills needed for A-level and beyond.

  • 76,654 words
  • About 392 pages
  • 34 chapters
  • Ages 15–17
£8.99

Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites
  3. The Laboratory Toolkit
  4. Made in Stars
  5. Radioactive Clocks
  6. Extinct Radionuclides and the First Ten Million Years
  7. The Solar Nebula and the First Solids
  8. Chondrules and Matrix
  9. Chondrite Classes and Groups
  10. Petrologic Types, Shock and Weathering
  11. Oxygen Isotopes and the Great Divide
  12. Melting Worlds
  13. Vesta and the HED Meteorites
  14. Meteorites from the Moon and Mars
  15. Iron Meteorites: Structure and Cooling
  16. Iron Meteorite Chemistry and Stony-Irons
  17. Cosmic-Ray Exposure and Terrestrial Ages
  18. How Many Meteorites Fall?
  19. Orbits and Fireball Networks
  20. Asteroids and Comets: The Parent Bodies
  21. Through the Atmosphere
  22. Impact Energy and Planetary Defence
  23. Impact Craters on Earth
  24. Micrometeorites and Cosmic Dust
  25. Organic Chemistry and the ALH 84001 Debate
  26. Building Earth: Meteorites and the Planets
  27. Sample Return
  28. Classification, Naming and Responsible Study
  29. A Gazetteer of Notable Meteorites
  30. Working with Meteorite Data
  31. Timeline and Reference Data
  32. Further Study and Careers
  33. Answers to Exam-Style Questions
  34. Glossary