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Writeup from MB 40:
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DISCOVERY OF MUNDRABILLA IRON METEORITE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Name: MUNDRABILLA.

The place of fall or discovery: The Nullarbor Plain, to the north of the Transcontinental Railway,Western Australia; φ = 30^°47'S, λ =127°33'E.

Date of fall or discovery: FOUND, March 1966.

Class and type: IRON, medium octahedrite.

Number of individual specimens: 2

Total weight: 10-12 tons and 5 1/2 tons.

Circumstances of the fall or discovery: The meteorites were found by geologists R. B. Wilson and A. M. Cooney while engaged on a geological survey. Both masses are lying within only very slight depressions in clayey soil, some 180 m apart. The larger mass tends to have a crude conical to hemispherical shape with the nose partially buried in the soil. The axis is inclined at an angle of approximately 60°. Evidence of fragmentation of a larger mass is afforded by a sharp, angular, vertical face on the larger mass, which matches both in size and shape, a similar sharp face on the smaller mass. Preliminary study indicates that the meteorite came from the west at relatively low velocity and high angle. The larger mass has been presented to the Western Australian Museum, while the smaller mass is in Geosurveys possesion (Adelaide, South Australia).

Source: Report of Dr. R. B. Wilson (Adelaide, South Australia) in a letter 1.4. 1967.

DISCOVERY OF FURTHER MASSES OF THE MUNDRABILLA, AUSTRALIA, IRON METEORITE

Name: MUNDRABILLA

Place of find: On the Nullarbor Plain, approximately 26 km NE. of the Mundrabilla siding on the Trans-Australian railway. The two masses were found 1.3 km apart.

127°45'S., 30°46'E.

Date of find: 1979

Class and type: Iron. Anomalous.

Number of individual

specimens: 2 main masses and numerous small knuckle-shaped pieces.

Total weight: 1640 kg approximately

Circumstances of find: The two further large masses (no. 3 and no. 4 weighing 840 kg and 800 kg respectively) were found by Mr. A. J. Carlisle about 20 km east of the site where two Mundrabilla masses (no. 1 and no. 2) were found in 1966.

Source: J.R. de Laeter, School of Physics and Geosciences, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.