Birch, et al., reported in 2019 that the Maryborough meteorite is a new H5 ordinary chondrite discovered about 2 km south of Maryborough, Victoria, in May 2015. It is a single stone measuring approximately 39 x 14 x 14 cm and with a mass of 17 kg. Plentiful indistinct chondrules are up to 1 mm across in a strongly recrystallised plagioclase-bearing matrix. Olivine and orthopyroxene in both the matrix and chondrules are uniform in composition (Fo80.1Fa19.3Te0.5Ca-ol0.04 and En81.5Fs17.1Wo1.5 respectively).
The main metallic phases present are kamacite, taenite and tetrataenite, often forming composite grains with troilite. There is no evidence for any shock-inducing event and the meteorite shows incipient weathering in the form of thin iron-oxide mantles around the Fe‒Ni grains. A terrestrial age of less than 1,000 years is estimated from C14 dating. While there are a number of historic reported meteor sightings in the Maryborough district, none can be tied to the meteorite’s find site. To date, Maryborough is the third H5 ordinary chondrite and the second largest single chondritic mass, after Kulnine (55 kg), found in Victoria.
The Maryborough find is only the seventeenth recorded meteorite from Victoria and the ninth chondrite. Along with Dimboola (Mason 1963) and Pigick (Birch et al. 2001), Maryborough is the third H5 ordinary chondrite and the second largest single chondritic mass, after Kulnine (55 kg), recovered from Victoria (Henry 2003). It is perhaps surprising that more meteorites have not been discovered in central Victoria since the hobby of metal detecting for gold boomed in the 1970s. Museums Victoria encourages all prospectors to bring in unusual rocks for identification.
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