Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 15062 & 15063

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 112

Northwest Africa 15062 (NWA 15062)

(Northwestern Africa)
Purchased: 2018-July
Mass: 40.18 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Purchased by Bing’an Miao from a meteorite dealer Rex in Beijing in July, 2018.

Physical Characteristics: The sample weighs 40.18 g and is brown in color.

Petrography: The polished section of this meteorite shows a granulitic brecciated texture. A large number of mineral fragments set in a granoblastic matrix dominated by plagioclase and small mafic minerals. The major minerals are plagioclase (62 vol%, partly transformed to maskelynite), olivine (26 vol%) and pyroxene (12 vol%), and the minor minerals are chromite, spinel and troilite.

Geochemistry: Plagioclase: An_96.1-98.5Or_0.05-0.25(n=21); Olivine: Fo_79.1-81.3, Fe/Mn=80-102 (n=11); Pyroxene: Fs_15-18.2Wo_1.9-16.8En_75.2-82.6, Fe/Mn=44-75(n=17).

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia). Although there is no information on the exact location where NWA 15062 and NWA 15063 were found, they have similarities in lithic texture and major mineral composition, and they were purchased from the same meteorite dealer, so they may be paired meteorites.

Specimens: One polished thin section and the type sample of 8.5 g are deposited in GUT. The main mass of the meteorite is kept by the owner of Bing’an Miao.

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 112

Northwest Africa 15063 (NWA 15063)

(Northwestern Africa)
Purchased: 2018-July
Mass: 15.73 g (1 piece)

Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Purchased by Bing’an Miao from a meteorite dealer Rex in Beijing in July, 2018.

Physical Characteristics:  A single stone with obvious dark fusion crust.

Petrography: This meteorite shows a granulitic breccia texture. The clasts are composed largely of plagioclase, olivine and pyroxene mineral fragments. The matrix shows a poikiloblastic texture dominated by plagioclase, olivine and pyroxene. A fracture is clearly visible in the middle of the polished thin section, and divides the whole into two parts of similar area. The plagioclase around the fracture has been transformed to maskelynite. Minor phases include chromite, spinel, troilite and ilmenite.

Geochemistry: Plagioclase: An_94.7-98.5Or_0.03-0.4(n=17); Olivine: Fo_79.1-89.8, Fe/Mn=71-117 (n=17); Pyroxene: Fs_11.6-17.2Wo_2.3-19.1En_72-80.5, Fe/Mn=47-63(n=10).

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic breccia). Although there is no information on the exact location where NWA 15062 and 15063 were found, they have similarities in lithic texture and major mineral composition, and they were purchased from the same meteorite dealer, so they may be paired meteorites.

Specimens: One polished thin section and the type sample of 3.5 g are deposited in GUT. The main mass of the meteorite is kept by the owner of Bing’an Miao.

Randy Says…

I have not studied Northwest Africa 15062/15063. Modally, the rock is an anorthositic troctolite (Stöffler et al., 1980).

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 15062 | 15063

References

Stöffler D., Knöll H.-D., Marvin U. B., Simonds C. H., and Warren P. H. (1980) Recommended classification and nomenclature of lunar highlands rocks-a committee report. In Proceedings Conf. Lunar Highlands Crust (eds. J. J. Papike and R. B. Merrill), 51-70, Pergamon Press

Xia Z., Yang B., Si B., Chen G., Wang X., Chen H., Zhang C., and Miao B. (2024) Petrogenesis of lunar granulitic breccia meteorites Northwest Africa 15062 and 15063. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 59. doi: 10.1111/maps.14285