The first mass (54.2 kg) of Bencubbin was discovered in 1930 during ploughing. A second, larger mass (64.6 kg) was found in 1959 and donated to the Western Australian Museum by Mr Fred Hardwick, and a third mass (15.76 kg) was found in 1974. Bencubbin has subsequently proved to be an extreme rarity and have significant scientific importance. Originally classified as a ‘stony-iron’, today it is recognized as the type specimen of a new group of carbonaceous chondrites (CB), or ‘Bencubbinites’. Bencubbin is a breccia (a rock formed of angular fragments cemented by a finer material) enclosing clasts of material from other chondritic groups, and the meteorite remains the subject of extensive ongoing research.
HaH 237 has a finer texture and more metal than other bencubbinites.
Bencubbin displays evenly distributed enclaves of chondritic and achondritic material throughout. For many years the Bencubbin meteorite was considered one of a kind. In recent years several similar finds and one fall have come to light. Since Bencubbin was the first and had been studied in detail when others of this type were identified they were referred to as Bencubbin-like meteorites. Considering their bulk refractory lithophile abundance normalized to Si, and their O-isotopic ratios they have been further designated as part of the CCs (carbonaceous chondrites) Type Câ€B†Bencubbibites and are closely related to the CR-clan meteorites.
