Description
Northwest Africa 5885 (NWA 5885)
(Northwest Africa)
Purchased: 2009
Classification: Enstatite achondrite (Aubrite)
History: The meteorite was bought in 2009 from a local meteorite dealer in Erfoud, Morocco.
Physical characteristics: A single, brownish individual without fusion crust was purchased.
Petrography: The meteorite displays a medium- to coarse-grained texture dominantly composed of up to 2 mm sized enstatite crystals. Often, adjoining grains show triple junctions. Less abundant are albitic feldspar and kamacite. Perryite is found as exsolution phase in the metal. The meteorite contains several weathering veins.
Geochemistry: Feldspar: An4.1Ab91.7Or4.2 (N=2); metal contains 3.2-3.8 wt Ni and about 3.2 wt% Si; oxygen isotopes (N. Assayag, P. Cartigny, and D. Rumble, IPGP): δ18O=5.335, 5.585; δ17O=2.849, 2.875; Δ17O= 0.057, -0.048 (all per mil).
Classification: Aubrite. Pairing with NWA 6675 seems likely.
