Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 13779

Northwest Africa 13779 (NWA 13779)

northwestern Africa
Purchased: 2020
Mass: 80 g (1 piece)

Classification:  Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: The meteorite was purchased from a group of meteorites hunters in Nouadhibou, Mauritania in late 2020.

Physical characteristics: Dark grayish rock without fusion crust.

Petrography: (A. Greshake, MNB) Polymict feldspathic breccia composed of lithic clasts (gabbroic, fine-grained subophitic basalts, impact melt up to 5 mm in size) and mineral fragments set in a more fine-grained clastic and partly shock melted matrix. Main minerals are zoned low-Ca pyroxene, augite, olivine, and plagioclase. Minor phases include silica, ferroan olivine, chromite, ilmenite, and FeS. Some cracks are filled with secondary calcite.

Geochemistry: low-Ca pyroxene: Fs_20.2±7.0Wo_3.3±0.3 (Fs_12.7-27.9Wo_2.6-3.8, FeO/MnO=51±4, n=10); augite: Fs_27.4±11.1Wo_37.2±5.9 (Fs_216.7-45.1Wo_27.8-43.1, FeO/MnO=46±7, n=17); olivine: Fa_38.3±2.6, (Fa_35.2-40.7, FeO/MnO=88±7, n=9); ferroan olivine: Fa_87.8±2.0, (Fa_85.6-90.0, FeO/MnO=73±4, n=8); plagioclase: An_95.1±4.9 (An_85.0-97.7, n=10)

Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

Specimens: 17 g at MNB; main mass with Salamu Ali

I have not studied NWA 13788. From the description and photos, it might be another NWA 8673 pair.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 13779