Lunar Meteorite: Pecora Escarpment 02007

Three views of Pecora Escarpment 02007 (22.4 g). The fusion crust on PCA 02007 is frothy and vesicular because the meteorite is a gas-rich regolith breccia, like QUE 93069. The fusion crust on feldspathic lunar breccias is lighter in color that that on chondrites and basaltic meteorites. Photo credit: NASA/JSC

**Small chips of PCA 02007 in the lab. The green lines in the background are 2 mm apart. Photo credit: Ryan Zeigle**r

Backscattered-electron image of PCA 02007, a regolith breccia. At the top and right is the glassy, vesicular fusion crust that occurs on the exterior of the meteorite in the photos above; the vesicles (gas bubbles) are black in this image. At the bottom of the image is the brecciated interior of the meteorite. Note that there is a sharp demarcation between the fusion crust and the interior, which did not get hot enough to melt. Longest dimension: 1.3 cm. Photo credit: Ryan Zeigler

**Transmitted-light photograph of the same thin section. Photo credit: Ryan Zeigler**

Listed in The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 88

from Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter, vol. 26, no. 2, August, 2003

Pecora Escarpment 02007 (PCA 02007)

Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica
Field No.: 13690
Dimensions (cm): 4.0×3.5×1.0
Mass: 22.372 g (1 piece)

Lunar-Basaltic Breccia*

Macroscopic Description: Kathleen McBride. This is a disk shaped meteorite with brown exterior on the top portion of the rock. The bottom face has tan colored, ropy glass with a frothy appearance. Polygonal fractures and various clasts of different sizes, shapes and colors can be seen. The interior is composed of a hard, dark gray matrix with white clasts. Underneath the tan ropy glass is a layer of shiny green glass.

Thin Section (,4) Description: Tim McCoy, Linda Welzenbach. The section consists of an extremely fine-grained (melt?) matrix with isolated mineral grains and fine- to coarse-grained basaltic clasts in all size ranges up to 2 mm. Microprobe analyses reveal olivine of Fa_27-33, pyroxene in a wide range of compositions from pigeonite Fs₅₀Wo₄ to augite of Fs₁₉Wo₄₃ with intermediate and more FeO-rich compositions, and plagioclase of An_64-100 (with the most An_96-100). The Fe/Mn ratio of the pyroxene averages ~53. The meteorite is a basaltic* lunar breccia.

Randy Says…

*PCA 02007 is actually a feldspathic breccia (26% Al₂O₃, 6.3% FeO), not a basaltic breccia.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

PCA 02007

Map

ANSMET Location Map

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Joy K. H., Crawford I. A., Russell S. S., Swinyard B., Kellett B., and Grande M. (2006) Lunar regolith breccias MET 01210, PCA 02007 and DAG 400: Their importance in understanding the lunar surface and implications for the scientific analysis of D-CIXS data. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII, abstract no. 1274.

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Korotev R. L. (2005) Lunar geochemistry as told by lunar meteorites. Chemie der Erde 65, 297-346.

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Korotev R. L., Zeigler R. A., and Jolliff B. L. (2004) Compositional constraints on the launch pairing of LAP 02205 and PCA 02007 with other lunar meteorites. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV, abstract no. 1416.

Korotev R. L., Zeigler R. A., and Jolliff B. L. (2006) Feldspathic lunar meteorites Pecora Escarpment 02007 and Dhofar 489: Contamination of the surface of the lunar highlands by post-basin impacts. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70, 5935-5956.

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Nishiizumi K., Hillegonds D. J., and Welten K. C. (2006) Exposure and terrestrial histories of lunar meteorites LAP 02205/02224/02226/02436, MET 01210, and PCA 02007, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII, abstract no. 2369.

Satterwhite C. E. and Righter K. (2013). Curator’s comments: Calcium sulfate found in lunar meteorite PCA 02007. Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter 36:1–2.

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Vaughan W. M., Wittmann A., Joy K. H., Lapen T. J., and Kring D. A. (2011) Provenance of impact melt and granulite clasts in lunar meteorite PCA 02007. 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, abstract no. 1247.

Will P., Maden C., and Busemann H. (2016) Noble gases in recently found hot and cold desert lunar meteorites. 79th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, abstract no. 6548.

Will P., Busemann H., Riebe M. E. I., and Maden C. (2019) Regolith history of six lunar regolith breccias derived from noble gas elemental and isotopic abundances. 82nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, abstract no. 6494.

Zeigler R. A., Korotev R. L., and Jolliff B. L. (2004) Petrography of lunar meteorite PCA 02007, a new feldspathic regolith breccia. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV, abstract no. 1978.

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