Author Archives: moky99

Northwest Africa 10272 (NWA 10272) (Northwest Africa) Purchased: 2015 May Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia) History: Purchased by Pierre-Marie Pelé and Fabien Kuntz in May 2015 from a dealer in Agadir, Morocco. Physical characteristics: No fusion crust is evident. The interior consists of white to light-gray clasts set in a dark-gray matrix. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Fragmental breccia composed of angular mineral clasts of calcic plagioclase, pigeonite, olivine, orthopyroxene, subcalcic augite, augite, fayalite, silica polymorph, Ti-Cr-rich spinel, Al-Ti-chromite, […]

Northwest Africa 10224 (NWA 10224) Morocco Purchased: January 2014 Classification: Iron meteorite (IID) History: Two identical-looking specimens (288.5 and 29.3 g) were purchased in January 2014 by Fabien Kuntz from a Moroccan dealer in Tagounite. Physical characteristics: Curved, elongated specimen has a reddish-brown exterior with no obvious regmaglypts and little evidence of terrestrial alteration or weathering. Petrography: Optical investigation reveals a well-developed Widmanstätten pattern consistent with a medium octahedrite (0.95±0.21 mm, n = 55). Geochemistry: Bulk composition: ICP-MS data, using […]

Northwest Africa 10153 (NWA 10153) Northwest Africa Purchased: 2014 Dec Classification: Martian meteorite (Nakhlite) History: Purchased by Darryl Pitt in December 2014 from a dealer in Erfoud, Morocco. Physical characteristics: A single (119 g) somewhat friable stone lacking fusion crust. The interior appears granular and overall gray green in color, but with prominent beige to reddish brown interstitial components. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Cumulate texture. Large (up to 2.0 mm long) prismatic, compositionally zoned augite grains and subordinate, […]

Northwest Africa 8447 (NWA 8447) (Northwest Africa) Purchased: 2014 Classification: Carbonaceous chondrite (CK6) History: Purchased in Morocco in 2014 Physical characteristics: A single crusted stone. Cut surface reveals poorly delineated dark chondules (up to 1 mm) and CAIs (up to 1 mm) embedded in a gray to greenish matrix. Petrography: Chondrule mean apparent size 750±340 μm (n=26). Matrix plagioclase up to 200 μm Geochemistry: Olivine Fa34.1±0.3 (PMD = 0.8, n=10, range 33.6-34.5). CPX Fs9.8Wo48.8 (n=2). Magnetite contains 5.1 wt.% Cr2O3. Magnetic […]

Northwest Africa 8348 (NWA 8348) Morocco Purchased: June 2010 Classification: Iron meteorite (IAB-sHL) Petrography: Plessitic octahedrite with anomalous structure. Plessitic cm-sized domains with relict Widmanstätten pattern in their center, separated by a continuous millimeter-thick undulose network of swathing kamacite and schreibersite crystals, up to 8 mm long. Neighboring plessitic domains have incoherent orientation. Contact between kamacite and plessitic domains is enriched in Ni. X-ray fluorescence maps were used to characterize mineralogy/structure. Geochemistry: Composition by ICPMS (K. Tachikawa, CEREGE): 5.49 mg/g Co, […]

Northwest Africa 8668 (NWA 8668) (Northwest Africa) Purchased: 2014 Jun Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia) History: Purchased by Fabien Kuntz in June 2014 from a dealer in Ouarzazate, Morocco. Physical characteristics: Dark gray, mottled stone (166.3 g) with some larger light gray clasts and interstital black regions. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Relatively fine grained fragmental breccia composed of mineral clasts of anorthite, olivine and pigeonite, with accessory merrillite, Mg-ilmenite, Ti-rich chromite, kamacite, Cr-Mg-Zr-Fe titanate, baddeleyite, and rare […]

Northwest Africa 8599 (NWA 8599) (Northwest Africa) Purchased: 2014 Jun Classification: Lunar meteorite History: Purchased by F. Kuntz in June 2014 from a dealer in Zagora, Morocco. Physical characteristics: Smooth-surfaced, fine grained, greenish-gray stone (36.5 g) with cross-cutting black veins. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Granuloblastic texture with larger grains of anorthite and very small grains of olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, high-Ca pyroxene, Al-bearing chromite, troilite and taenite. Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa 23.3-23.5, FeO/MnO = 81-83), low-Ca pyroxene (Fs18.9-19.6Wo5.2-4.7; FeO/MnO […]

Northwest Africa 7831 (NWA 7831)        27.307°N, 12.083°W Saguia el Hamra, Western Sahara Found: 2013 Mar Classification: HED achondrite (Diogenite) History: Found buried in the ground near Chouichiyat on March 3, 2013, and excavated by a team of local people. Physical characteristics: A single large mass (at least 20 kg) composed of yellow-green crystalline material with pale orange weathering products along numerous fractures. Much of the material disintegrated into fragments upon excavation. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) The specimen is composed almost […]

Northwest Africa 8015 (NWA 8015) (Northwest Africa) Purchased: 2012 Jun Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L5, melt breccia) History: Purchased by F. Kuntz in June 2013 at the Ensisheim Show. Physical characteristics: The specimen (1513 g) is composed of rounded, pale orange clasts in a black, very fine-grained matrix containing wispy grains of fresh metal. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) This is a typical L5 melt breccia composed of about equal proportions of L5 chondrite clasts (S2, W1) and quenched (impact) […]

Northwest Africa 7325 (NWA 7325) (Northwest Africa) Purchased: 2012 Apr Classification: Ungrouped achondrite History: Purchased by Stefan Ralew in April 2012 from a dealer in Erfoud, Morocco. The material was found reportedly in southern Morocco in early 2012. Physical characteristics: A group of 35 very fresh, dark greenish stones (total 345 g), several of which have partial remnant chartreuse-colored fusion crust. This material is notable for the characteristic “frosty” luster of the plagioclase and bright green color of the clinopyroxene. Petrography: […]