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The Tamdaght, Morocco meteorite fall page
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Photos courtesy of M.Aid & Svend Buhl, text Svend Buhl
1.5 kg meteorite found near Anakhsa
On February 15 a nomad from the vicinity of n'Ait Farss reported the find of a ~1.5 kg meteorite. The specimen
was found while searching for meteorites of the Tamdakht fall on a mountain terrace
opposite the village of Anakhsa. Since the finder was previously asked to leave new find situations undisturbed to
allow photographing and measurements on the site, he marked the spot and left all fragments in place as found. Two days
later, on February 17 the new fall site could be documented by M. Aid.
The impact site of the Anakhsa 01 mass. The meteorite can be seen in situ in the centre of the image. The GPS device
marks the spot where the meteorite hit the rock outcrop and shattered the weathered edge. Photo courtesy of M.Aid
Situated at an altitude of 1545 meters the fall site is overlooking the
Anakhsa canyon and the village itself.
The meteorite impacted on the edge of a limestone outcrop intersected
with marl layers. The weathered surface layer of the
rock, which is up to 7 cm thick at the impact spot, was shattered into many
fragments within an area along the edge measuring 20 x 30 cm. No
impact angle could be determined, but most of the limestone and marl debris
from the impact was distributed in a fan shaped pattern with a radius of ~6m, mostly east- and south eastwards.
The meteorite in situ at the base of the rock outcrop. The perspective of the image is from west to east,
taken from the approximated angle of the fall. Photo courtesy of M.Aid
The mass with a pre impact weight of approximately 1500 g hit the edge of the rock outcrop with one of the broad edges and
shattered the weathered edge of the rock. Parallel white impact marks along the meteorite's broad impacting edge
clearly indicate the direction of this movement. Subsequently and with one of the short edges the meteorite hit the
red clay soil, where it left a 5cm deep impression, and came to rest 70cm from the base of the outcrop.
Main body, meteorite fragments and debris from the imapct in situ. Photo courtesy of M.Aid
The meteorite finder with the 1.4 kg Tamdaght meteorite (Field name Anakhsa 01). Anakhsa can be seen in the canyon in the background. Photo courtesy of M. Aid
In total 1490 g of this meteorite could be recovered. The relatively intact main body of the Anakhsa 01 mass
weighs 1407 g. The meteorite is of triangular shape and has five surfaces crusted with rich primary fusion
crust. The specimen shows large, shallow but well developed regmaglypts. Along the edges of the
impacting surface several fragments chipped off. These were strewn around the base of the outcrop and in the
closer surrounding of the main body.
The fusion crust of the meteorite shows little to no signs of oxidation while the fractured
surfaces show rust halos around the iron aggregates. Although the fall of the Tamdakht meteorite occurred
59 days before the meteorite was found and documented, the overall impression is that of a hardly weathered specimen. A velvet textured
fusion crust is still showing the characteristic luster of a fresh fall. Low temperatures and a cold and mostly dry weather
since the fall favored the conservation of the specimen.
Eastward view from the find location of the Anakhsa 01 mass
The Anakhsa 01
mass represents the most westward find at present, thus marking the
beginning of the distribution ellipse of the Tamdakht meteorite. As research
in the field is continuing it can be assumed that smaller masses
will be found further to the west. (Status of February 18, 2009).
The 1407 g Tamdakht meteorite with the field name Anakhsa 01. Photo courtesy of M. Aid
