Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 16914

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 113

Northwest Africa 16914 (NWA 16914)

(Northwestern Africa)
Purchased: 2024 June
Mass: 52 g (2 pieces)

Lunar meteorite (melt breccia)

History: The meteorite was purchased from Mr. Salamu Ali, Bagarmossen, Sweden..

Physical Characteristics: Two dark grayish fragments lacking fusion crust.

Petrography: Fine-grained melt breccia composed of up to 600 µm sized mostly angular lithic and mineral clasts solidified by abundant, partly vesicular melt rock matrix. Major phases are calcic plagioclase, pigeonite, augite, and olivine. Minor phases include ilmenite, chromite, troilite, and FeNi metal.

Geochemistry: (Ansgar Greshake, MNB) olivine: Fa_27.5±0.1 (Fa_27.3-27.6, FeO/MnO=101±5; n=7); low-Ca pyroxene: Fs_28.9±0.2Wo_3.9±0.1 (Fs_28.6-29.2Wo_3.7-4.0, FeO/MnO=54±4, n=7); pigeonite: Fs_26.0±0.2Wo_16.5±0.8 (Fs_25.8-26.3Wo_15.4-17.4, FeO/MnO=48±2, n=7); ferroan pigeonite: Fs_31.4±0.8Wo_14.7±0.2 (Fs_30.8-33.4Wo_14.2-15.0, FeO/MnO=50±1, n=7); augite: Fs_16.9±0.9Wo_42.9±1.4 (Fs_15.7-18.2Wo_41.0-44.8, FeO/MnO=42±5, n=7); calcic plagioclase: An_96.4±0.8 (An_95.0-97.1, n=7).

Classification: Lunar melt breccia (anorthositic norite/gabbro), nomenclature based on Stoeffler et al. (1980).

Specimens: 10.8 g at MNB. Main mass with Andreas Schefzig

Randy Says…

I have not studied Northwest Africa 16914.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NWA 16914