Lunar Meteorite: Hassi Zerara 001

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 113

Hassi Zerara 001 (HZr 001)

Ouargla, Algeria
Find: 2012 December
Mass: 330 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (basalt)

History: Reported found December 12, 2023, approximately 80 km east-southeast of Hassi Fehal, Algeria. Purchased by Choaib Bdirina from the finder, and subsequently purchased by Mark Lyon and Jared Collins.

Physical Characteristics: Single stone, dark brown, sandblasted exterior, with a roughly prolate spheroid shape. Saw cut exposes a fine-grained mix of gray and white grains with some brown phenocrysts. Freshly broken surfaces display the presence of shiny maskelynite. Unbrecciated.

Petrography: (C. Agee, UNM) Backscatter electron images show igneous-zoned pyroxenes and lesser amounts of olivine. Maskelynite makes up approximately 20% of the modal mineralogy, ubiquitous acicular ilmenite ~5%, with minor ulvospinel, troilite, and chromite observed. Shock melt veins are present. Clinopyroxene shows Fe-enrichment trends from Mg-rich subcalcic augite to ferropigeonite.

Geochemistry: (M. Spilde, UNM) Olivine Fa_42.7±1.4, Fe/Mn=120±18, n=3; clinopyroxene Fs_42.9±25.1Wo_23.1±6.4, Fe/Mn=65±15, n=5; maskelynite An_89.4±1.9Ab_10.2±1.7, n=4. Shock melt SiO₂=43.3±0.1, TiO₂=3.9±0.0, Cr₂O₃=0.37±0.01, Al₂O₃=12.1±0.4, MgO=10.6±0.1, FeO=18.0±0.2, MnO=0.26±0.03, CaO=10.1±0.1, Na₂O=0.42±0.01, K₂O=0.04±0.02 (all wt%, 30 μm defocused beam), n=2.

Classification:Lunar (mare basalt). Based on the TiO₂ content of shock melt this meteorite is transitional between low-Ti and intermediate-Ti mare basalt (Giguere et al. 2000) or low-Ti according to the scheme of Neal and Taylor (1992). Similar bulk compositional TiO₂-content as NWA 14137, however olivine compositions are different and visually the two meteorites do not resemble each other.

Specimens: 26 g on deposit at UNM, Mark Lyon and Jared Collins hold the main mass.

Randy Says…

I have not studied Hassi Zerara 001.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

Hassi Zerara 001