Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 7274

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 101

Northwest Africa 7274 (NWA 7274)

(northwest Africa)
Purchased: 2012 Feb
Mass: 372.6 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Purchased by by Darryl Pitt and David Gheesling from a dealer in Zagora, Morocco, in 2012 February.

Physical characteristics: A single stone (372.6 g) lacking fusion crust, exhibiting small feldspathic clasts in a darker matrix. One broadly curved side of the stone is fairly fresh (but with beige weathering products in fractures), whereas the other broken sides are coated with desert varnish.

Petrography: (A. Irving, S. Kuehner & N. Castle, UWS; R. Mills, JSC). Fine fragmental breccia composed of anorthite, olivine, augite, pigeonite and orthopyroxene with accessory kamacite, ilmenite and troilite.
Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa_8.6; 25.7; FeO/MnO = 81-101), orthopyroxene (Fs_23.3Wo_4.6, FeO/MnO = 69), pigeonite (Fs_44.9Wo_9.9, FeO/MnO = 54), ferropigeonite (Fs_82.2Wo_15.8, FeO/MnO = 81), subcalcic augite (Fs1_8.0-32.1Wo_34.6-37.8, FeO/MnO = 47-58), plagioclase (An_95.7-97.0Or_0.1).

Bulk composition: (R. Korotev, WUSL): mean values from INAA of subsamples are 6.2 wt.% FeO, 11.8 ppm Sc, 310 ppm Ni, 10.5 ppm La, 4.8 ppm Sm, 0.94 ppm Eu, 3.5 ppm Yb, 1.9 ppm Th.

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia).

Specimens: 20 g of material is on deposit at UWB. The main mass is owned jointly by D. Pitt and D. Gheesling.

Randy Says…

NWA 7274 is a feldspathic lunar meteorite moderately rich in KREEP. Like the 4936 clan, it bears some compositional resemblance to Apollo 16 soils, but it is compositionally distinct from NWA 4936 and not as glassy.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 7274

References

Korotev R. L. and Irving A. J. (2013) Keeping up with the lunar meteorites – 2013. 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, abstract no. 1216.

Korotev R. L. and Irving A. J. (2021) Lunar meteorites from northern Africa. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 206–240.