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The Tamdakht meteorite
Stone, chondrite, H5, S3, W0
Tamdakht, Quarzazate province, Morocco
Fall: December 20, 2008, 22:37 local time
TKW: ~100 kg
Individual: 2007 g
The front surface of the 2007g Tamdakht meteorite found near Tiguert n'Ait Farss (#01)
Secondary fusion crust on a fractured surface bordering portions of primary fusion crust with distinct
contraction cracks. The withe coating is limestone powder from the impact
After a spectacular and long lasting fireball travelling from west
to east in a near horizontal trajectory more than ten masses fell 10 -
15 km north east of Tamdakht in the High Atlas. The first meteorites were
found by the help of local nomds in early January. For more information on the event please see our
Report On a
Meteorite Fall near Tamdakht, Morocco, December 20, 2008.
The
particular mass picured here (Tiguert n'Ait Farss 01) was found on January 17 about 3km
from the village of Tiguert n'Ait Farss. The find location is situated
on an ancient alluvial plain on the eastern side of the Tiguert canyon at an altitude of 1500 meters.
The delta shaped specimen has six surfaces, a slightly convex front side and a concave rear side. The specimen shows no signs
of orientation (the assignment of "front" and "rear" surfaces was made for differentiation only).
The 2kg meteorite shows a fresh coarse primary fusion crust on the front and the
flanks. A few patches show distinct contraction cracks. The
rear surface reveals a textbook example of secondary fusion crust that is just beginning to form. The surface
texture is coarse grained and uneven, the structure of the fragmented rock can still be seen under a thin sooty coating.
Ridges and protrusions have already been smoothened by ablation but most of the surface still
has the appearence of a fresh fracture.
The rear surface of the Tiguert n'Ait Farss 01 meteorite showing secondary fusion crust just beginning to form
One more small surface on the tip of one corner shows secondary
fusion crust. It is in the same early stage as on the rear surface.
Obviously the meteorite suffered a violent in flight fragmentation. It's noteworthy that on several surfaces
of the meteorite small patches of the primary fusion crust are replaced by secondary crust in various stages of forming.
This indicates that shock and stress accumulated during the ablation phase succesively lead to flaking of the crust.
A missing corner of the meteorite coated with secondary fusion crust
When the meteorite impacted it first hit the ground with a corner of the rear surface.
This caused a 3 x 3 cm corner to shear off. The missing material was mostly turned
into a fine powdered dust and mixed with the soil in the shallow impact pit it created. A few more smaller damages and white
impact marks bear witness of a rebouncing or rolling over the ground. None of the though led to a chipping of the crust.
The matrix shows only very little signs of oxidation and displays no obvious
difference to the first meteorite finds at the beginning of January.
