Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 13546

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 109

Northwest Africa 13546 (NWA 13546)

northwestern Africa
Purchased: 2020
Mass: 2300 g (many pieces)

Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: The meteorite was purchased from a dealer in Morocco.

Physical characteristics: Many small greyish fragments some of which covered with fusion crust.

Petrography: The meteorite displays a grayish interior and is a feldspathic breccia composed of mineral fragments, basaltic, gabbroic, and impact melt clasts cemented by a fine-grained partly shock-melted groundmass. Most abundant minerals are calcic plagioclase, olivine of highly variable composition, and exsolved pyroxene; less abundant are and complex zoned pyroxenes. Accessories include ilmenite, and FeNi-metal. The meteorite contains shock melt veins and pockets.

Geochemistry: (A. Greshake, MNB) olivine: Fa_21.3±11.1 (Fa_9.9-44.3, FeO/MnO=79±8, n=26); fayalite: Fa_95.5±0.2, FeO/MnO=85±3, n=6; low-Ca host to augite exsolution lamellae: Fs_49.2±0.6Wo_4.3±0.7 (Fs_47.8-50.3Wo_3.5-5.7, FeO/MnO=56±3, n=11); augite exsolution lamellae: Fs_23.3±0.8Wo_41.0±0.6 (Fs_22.4-25.1Wo_39.3-41.5, FeO/MnO=53±6, n=10); complex zoned pyroxene: Fs_38.1±10.0Wo_21.5±13.8 (Fs_25.8-49.6Wo_5.6-39.0, FeO/MnO=50±3, n=11); calcic plagioclase: An_97.6±0.3 (An_97.1-97.9, n=14)

Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia); likely paired with NWA 11273

Specimens: MNB. Larbi Chnaoui holds the main mass.

Randy Says…

I have not studied NWA 13484. Like NWA 11273, it may be another pair of NWA 8046 clan.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 13546