Lunar Meteorite: Agator el Feroua 001
| from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 111 Agator el Feroua 001 (AeF 001)Gao, Mali Lunar meteorite (basalt) History: This meteorite was found partially buried in sand on April 14, 2022, approximately 140 km north-northeast of Taoudenni in Ain Taweelah by Sahrawi meteorite hunters who were on a trip in search for meteorites. Physical Characteristics: Single stone, covered in fusion crust, elongate sculptural shape, flight-oriented. Freshly broken surface reveals a fine-grained mix of light gray and light brown grains, dark shock melt pockets, and shiny maskelynite. Unbrecciated. Petrography: (A. Ross and C. Agee, UNM) Backscatter electron images, SEM images, and reflected light microscopy show igneous-zoned olivines and pyroxenes. Maskelynite makes up approximately 30% of the modal mineralogy, acicular ilmenite grains were ubiquitous in the microprobe mount; Ti-magnetite, troilite, low-Ni Fe-metal, and silica were also observed. Quench melt pockets are present throughout. Geochemistry: (A. Ross and C. Agee, UNM) Olivine Fa52.6±16.8, Fe/Mn=100±7, n=6; clinopyroxene Fs52.4±22.8Wo19.9±8.2, Fe/Mn=67±11, n=12; maskelynite An88.4±0.4Ab11.3±0.4, n=4. Quench melt SiO2=42.2±1.9, TiO2=7.4±1.8, Cr2O3=0.11±0.04, Al2O3=8.9±1.9, MgO=3.6±0.8, FeO=26.0±3.4, MnO=0.32±0.09, CaO=10.2±0.8, Na2O=0.34±0.16, K2O=0.13±0.05 (all wt%, 20 μm defocused beam), n=4. Clinopyroxene shows Fe-enrichment trends that are continuous from Mg-augite and Mg-pigeonite to subcalcic-ferroaugite/ferropigeonite. Classification: Unbrecciated intermediate-Ti lunar mare basalt. Intermediate-Ti (Giguere et al., 2000) is based on the TiO2 content of the quench shock melt (TiO2=7.4±1.8 wt%, proxy for bulk composition) and is one of the highest TiO2 contents ever reported in a lunar meteorite. Specimens: 25 g including a probe mount on deposit at UNM, Bachir Salek holds the main mass. |
| Randy Says… I hope this one gets thoroughly studied. |
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