Meteorite Recon | Achondrites
Meteorite search expedtions into continental deserts, meteorite features, collection specimens and photography
Meteorites, Meteorite, meteoritic, iron, meteorites, photos, pictures, in situ, strewnfield, strewn field, impact, fall, finds, Meteorite searching
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Archive

Dhofar 007

Stone, achondrite, eucrite cumulate, AEUC
Zufar, Oman
Find: 1999
TKW: 27.24 kg
Individual 223.7g g

The Dhofar 007 meteorite strewn field was discovered by Russian meteorite prospectors in 1999. More than 27 kg were found within a distribution ellipse 3 km wide and more than 6.5 km long. Due to the untypical texture and color of the slighty weathered eucrites they are hard to spot on the desert surface. The lower image shows the 223 g specimen in situ. The larger part of the meteorite is embedded in the desert pavement with only a small fraction sticking out of the surface. It is a compact irregular ball shaped individual with several regmaglypts and about 50 percent fusion crust.

Tafassasset

Stone, Carbonaceous chondrite (equilibrated CR-like meteorite) or primitive achondrite
Ténéré Tafassasset, Republic of Niger
Find: February 14, 2000
TKW: 114 kg
Endcut: 276.60 g

Crusted endcut of the Tafassasset meteorite. Tafassasset consists of 26 stones found in the Tenere desert of Niger between 2000 and 2001. The meteorite has yet to be definitively classified as there obviously are considerable textural and compositional differences between individual stones. In the course Tafassasset was classified a) as a metamorphosed CR chondrite in line with other Renazzo-like CR chondrites, and b) as a primitive achondrite close to the anomalous LEW 88763 and other Brachinites. A recent paper by K. G. Gardner-Vandy et al. (2008) agrees that all Tafassasset material circulating in the scientific community is paired but that some stones have distinct oxygen isotopic compositions. The authors suggest that the Tafassasset parent body of FeO-rich material partially differentiated and cooled in a region of the nebula with oxygen-isotopic composition similar to the CR chondrites. However further research is necessary in order to understand the genesis of this most intriguing meteorite.

Northwest Africa 6471

Stone, achondrite, ureilite, AUR
Morocco (Western Sahara)
Find: 2010
TKW: 603 g
Endcut: 151 g

NWA 6471 was purchased in Morocco (Western Sahara) in October 2010 and subsequently classified by Dr. A. J. Irving. NWA 6471 is a coarse grained aggregate of olivine (exhibiting characteristic reduced, metal-bearing rims) and orthopyroxene. The sample has two polished cut surfaces at right angles to each other, the reverse side shows the original surface and is coated with well preserved fusion crust.

Bou Kra 004

Stone, HED-achondrite, Eucrite monomict
Saquia al Hamra, Western Sahara (Morocco)
Find: September 25, 2010

Finder: S. Buhl, P. Muromov
TKW: 272.7 g
Endcut: 64.4 g

Two large and many small fragments of a fresh eucrite were found during a meteorite search expedition in September 2010 at the northern edge of the G’idat Amwizirat plateau. Both of the larger fragments had a fully grown specimen of the frucitose lichen Ramalina maciformis growing on them. Despite the pristine and unweathered appearance of the meteorite, the plant indicates a terrestrial age of several years. The top photo shows the 130 g fragment prior to cutting, the lower image is an in situ shot of the find location.