Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 14908

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 111

Northwest Africa 14908 (NWA 14908)

Algeria
Find: 2017 March
Mass: 960 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: The meteorite was found by nomads in Algeria in March 2017. Zs. Kereszty purchased the stone from a Moroccan dealer in 2019.

Physical Characteristics: (D. Rezes and Zs. Kereszty, CSFK) A weakly weathered, hand sized, flat stone (960 g) without fusion crust. The largest dimension of the stone is 164 mm. Light grey and white clasts (up to 2 cm in size) are presented on the surface of the stone. Cut surface reveals coherent black matrix material, different coloured clasts and scarce metal and troilite grains.

Petrography: (D. Rezes, CSFK) Thin section of the meteorite shows mainly impact-related (impact melt, impact melt breccia and granulite) feldspathic clasts embedded in shock melt. Melt flow textures are observable in the sample. Major mineral phases are olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase. Accessory mineral phases are FeNi, troilite and chromite.

Geochemistry: (D. Rezes, CSFK) Olivine Fa23.23±7.14, Fe/Mn=85.1±20.7, N=20; augite Fs29.34±24.16Wo34.85±6.95, Fe/Mn=58.0±28.8, N=5; plagioclase An97.40±2.34, N=3; shock melt (20 µm defocused electron beam, proxy for bulk meteorite composition) SiO2=46.80±0.31, TiO2=0.17±0.05, Al2O3=29.15±1.09, Cr2O3=0.12±0.03, FeO=3.68±0.28, MnO=0.06±0.03, MgO=7.18±0.74, CaO=11.87±0.28, Na2O=0.96±0.21, K2O=0.03±0.06, N=4 (all in wt%).

Classification: Lunar feldspathic breccia. The meteorite is likely paired with NWA 8046 and related stones.

Specimens: 21 g on deposit at CSFK, ZKereszty holds the main mass.

Randy Says…

I have not studied Northwest Africa 14908. The description suggests that it might be another NWA 8046 pair.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 14908