Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 11127

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 106

Northwest Africa 11127 (NWA 11127)

(Northwestern Africa)
Found 2015; Purchased: 2016 April
Mass: 474.6 g (1 piece)

Lunar Meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Purchased by Darryl Pitt in April 2016 from a dealer in Mauritania.

Physical characteristics: A single stone (474.6 g) lacking fusion crust and consisting of diffuse white to pale brownish clasts in a medium gray, very fine-grained matrix containing small vesicles.

Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Breccia composed of lithic clasts and angular mineral grains of anorthite, olivine, orthopyroxene, pigeonite and exsolved pigeonite with accessory kamacite, Ti-chromite, ilmenite and minor troilite in a sparse finer grained, partly devitrified matrix (exhibiting “swirly” texture). The majority of the lithic clasts are fine grained melt rocks. Veinlets of shock glass plus secondary calcite and minor barite are present.

Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa_8.9-45.0, FeO/MnO = 74-79, N = 3), orthopyroxene (Fs_20.9Wo_4.6, FeO/MnO = 64), pigeonite (Fs_40.9Wo_19.2, FeO/MnO = 56), high-Ca pyroxene host (Fs_17.3Wo_41.1, FeO/MnO = 79), low-Ca exsolution lamella (Fs_36.4Wo_5.3, FeO/MnO = 61), plagioclase (An_96.4-96.5Or_0.2, N = 2).

Bulk composition: (R. Korotev, WUSL) INAA of subsamples gave the following mean abundances (in wt.%) FeO 3.7, Na₂O 0.34; (in ppm) Sc 14.5, Ni 90, La 4.4, Sm 1.76, Eu 0.75, Yb 1.5, Lu 0.22, Hf 1.4, Th 0.57.

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia).

Specimens: 20.6 g including one polished thin section at UWB; remainder with DPitt.

Randy Says…

NWA  11127 may be paired with NWA 10626.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 11127

References

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