Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 14341

Outside and inside of Northwest Africa 14341. Note that the shiny coating in the upper photo is desert varnish, not a fusion crust. Clasts stained reddish with terrestrial hematite are common in lunar meteorites from Oman, but I have never seen an NWA lunar with as many reddish clasts as this. Photo credits: Larry Atkins

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 110

Northwest Africa 14341 (NWA 14341)

(Northwestern Africa)
Purchased: 2021
Mass: 567g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Purchased from a Moroccan meteorite dealer in 2021.

Physical characteristics: Single stone, no fusion crust. Saw-cut slices reveal a fragmental breccia with white and reddish clasts set in a dark-colored groundmass.

Petrography: (C. Agee, UNM) Reflected light microscopy shows numerous olivine and pyroxene fragments set in a feldspathic dominated groundmass.

Geochemistry: (A. Ross, UNM) Olivine Fa48.5±6.0, Fe/Mn=96±3, n=6; pigeonite Fs31.8±10.3Wo31.8±10.2, Fe/Mn=62±8, n=7; plagioclase An96.9±0.5, n=4.

Classification: Lunar, feldspathic breccia.

Specimens: 22.8 g on deposit at UNM, Larry Atkins holds the main mass.

Randy Says…

I have not studied Northwest Africa 14341.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 14341

Lunar Meteorites
List – ABC123 Order
List – Al2O3 Order