Lunar Meteorite: Dar al Gani 400 & 1058

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 82

Dar al Gani 400 (DaG 400)

Libya
Found: 1998 March 10
Mass: 1425 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (anorthositic breccia)

A 1.425 kg stone was found in Dar al Gani in the Libyan Sahara.

Classification and description (J. Zipfel, MPI): the meteorite is partly covered with a brownish fusion crust; fresh surfaces are gray to dark gray; matrix is well consolidated; clasts include subophitic and fine-grained to microporphyritic impact-melt breccias, granulitic fragments, intergranularly recrystallized anorthosites, and mineral fragments; chemical and O isotope composition is characteristic of lunar highland meteorites (Zipfel et al., 1998b); abundances and composition of noble gases do not suggest a pairing with DaG 262 (Scherer et al., 1998b). For further details, see Zipfel et al. (1998b). Type specimen and two polished sections are with the MPI; main mass with finder.

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 101

Dar al Gani 1058 (DaG 1058)

Al Jufrah, Libya
Found: 1998 Sep 9
Mass: 1815 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: A fairly large stone was found in 1998 September on the Dar al Gani plateau, Libya, near the find site of Dar al Gani 400.

Physical characteristics: Compact, fine grained gray stone (1815 g) with visible whitish to pale gray clasts and partially coated by orange-brown weathering products.

Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Very fine grained melt matrix breccia with larger feldspathic clasts. Minerals are anorthite, olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, more calcic pigeonite, Ti-bearing chromite, ilmenite and troilite.

Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa_16.0-33.9; FeO/MnO = 90-108), low-Ca pyroxene (Fs_29.8-30.3Wo_4.8-6.4, FeO/MnO = 50-57), pigeonite (Fs_33.7Wo_10.2; Fs_43.6Wo_7.3; FeO/MnO = 59-61). Bulk composition (R. Korotev, WUSL): mean values from INAA of subsamples are 3.0 wt.% FeO, 5.1 ppm Sc, 80 ppm Ni, 1.4 ppm La, 0.6 ppm Sm, 0.69 ppm Eu, 0.48 ppm Yb, 0.2 ppm Th.

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia). This specimen was found close to Dar al Gani 400, and similarities in mineralogy and bulk composition indicate that these are likely paired.

Specimens: A total of 25 g of type material is on deposit at UWS. The remainder is held by an anonymous collector.

Randy Says…

Compositionally, Dar al Gani 400/1058 is a typical feldspathic lunar meteorite. It is a regolith breccia dominated by clasts of impact-melt rock and granulitic breccia.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

Dar al Gani 400 | 1058

References

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