Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 14137

Northwest Africa 14137. Photo credit: Doug Chenin
Two endcuts of NWA 14137. Photo credits: Doug Chenin
A slice of NWA 14137. Because of the low lighting angle (from the right), the vesicles stand out and look like craters because all have shadows are on the right-hand side. NWA 14137 is the most vesicular basaltic lunar meteorite of which I am aware. I believe that the dark areas surrounding the vesicles are the melt pockets mentioned in the description below. Photo credits: Scott McGregor

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 110

Northwest Africa 14137 (NWA 14137)

(Northwestern Africa)
Find: 2021
Mass: 77 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (basalt)

History: Reportedly found in 2021 and purchased by Doug Chenin in 2021 from a meteorite dealer in Mauritania.

Physical characteristics: Single stone, with smooth to irregular exterior surface, no fusion crust present, and numerous vesicles pits visible in hand sample. Polished saw cuts reveal a fine-grained mix of dark-gray and light-brown grains, many dark shock melt pockets present. Unbrecciated.

Petrography: (C. Agee, UNM) Backscattered electron images shown igneous-zoned olivines and pyroxenes. Maskelynite makes up approximately 25% of the modal mineralogy, ubiquitous acicular ilmenite ~5%, minor ulvospinel, troilite, chromite and silica observed. Quench melt pockets are present throughout.

Geochemistry: (A. Ross and C. Agee, UNM) Olivine Fa57.7±21.1, Fe/Mn=99±4, n=9; clinopyroxene Fs46.1±19.2Wo25.1±5.6, Fe/Mn=64±12, n=12;, maskelynite An88.5±0.8Ab11.0±0.8, n=6. Quench melt SiO2=43.7±0.7, TiO2=4.1±0.3, Cr2O3=0.24±0.08, Al2O3=10.1±1.2, MgO=5.9±1.6, FeO=22.2±1.0, MnO=0.28±0.02, CaO=10.7±0.5, Na2O=0.42±0.16, K2O=0.12±0.05 (all wt%, 30 μm defocused beam), n=8. Clinopyroxene shows Fe-enrichment trends that are continuous from Mg-augite and Mg-pigeonite to subcalcic-ferroaugite/ferropigeonite.

Classification: Lunar (mare basalt). Based on the TiO2 content of quench melt this is meteorite transitional between low-Ti and intermediate-Ti mare basalt (Giguere et al. 2000).

Specimens: 15.9 g including a probe mount on deposit at UNM, DChenin holds the main mass.

Randy Says…

I have not studied NWA 14137. Vitelli-Hawkins et al. (2025) found no evidence that NWA 14137 was paired with NWA 14526 or NWA 14992, two other low-Ti basalts also found in 2021.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 14137

References

Giguere T. A., Taylor G. J., Hawke B. R., and Lucey P. G. (2000) The titanium contents of lunar mare basalts. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 35, 193-200.

Vitelli-Hawkins Q., Goss K. R., Simon S. B., Wimpenny J., Agee C. B., Borg L.E., and Shearer C. K. (2025) Insight into mare volcanism by utilizing three lunar low-Ti basalt meteorites: Northwest Africa 14137, 14526, and 14992. 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, abstract no. 2671.

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