Lunar Meteorite: Yamato 983885

from Meteorite Newsletter, vol. 10, No. 2, 2001

Yamato 983885 (Y-983885)

Yamato Mountains, Antarctica
Dimensions (cm): 8.4 x 5.4 x 5.2
Found: 1999 January 11
Mass: 289.71 g (1 piece)
Weathering: A Fracturing: B

Lunar Anorthositic Breccia

Macroscopic description (Kaiden H.). It is a rounded stone with some thin yellowish green fusion crust. Angular white to gray clasts (up to 3 mm in size), white crystalline plagioclases, pyroxenes and dark grains set in a dark fine-grained matrix.

Petrographic Description (Kaiden H.). A thin section (71-1) shows a polymict breccia containing polymineralic and monomineralic clasts (up to 1.2 mm in size) set in a dark brown clastic matrix. Most of larger clasts are polymineralic, frequently composed of calcic plagioclase pyroxene and olivine, less commonly plagioclase and olivine, or plagioclase alone. Smaller clasts are dominantly mineral fragments of plagioclase, with some pyroxenes and olivines. Glass spherules, up to 0.3 mm in diameter, are also observed. EPMA analyses show a pyroxene composition range of En_14-85Fs_12-55Wo_2-40; a plagioclase range of An_89-98; and an olivine range of Fo_32-36. The average FeO/MnO ratios of pyroxenes (64) indicates that this rock is lunar rock. The oxygen isotopic composition (analyzed by Clayton and Mayeda) of a bulk rock sample that is δ¹⁸O=+5.65, δ ¹⁷=+2.89, Δ¹⁷O=-0.05, also indicates that the meteorite is lunar origin.

Randy Says…

Yamato 983885 is basalt- and KREEP-bearing  feldspathic breccia.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database Yamato 983885

Map: NIPR Location Map

References

Arai T., Otsuki M., Ishii T., Mikouchi T., and Miyamoto M. (2004) Mineralogy of Yamato 983885 lunar polymict breccia with alkali-rich and Mg-rich rocks. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV, abstract no. 2155.

Arai T., Otsuki M., Ishii T., Mikouchi T., and Miyamoto M. (2005) Mineralogy of Yamato 983885 lunar polymict breccia with KREEP basalt, a high-Al basalt, a very low-Ti basalt and Mg-rich rocks. Antarctic Meteorite Research 18, 17-45.

Arai S., Terada K., Arai T., Hidaka H., and Sano Y. (2008) Ion microprobe U-Pb dating of the Yamato-983885 lunar meteorite. 71st Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, abstract no. 5074.

Kaiden H. and Arai T. (2006) Ion microprobe REE analyses of the Yamato 983885 lunar meteorite. 69th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, abstract no. 5385.

Kaiden H. and Kojima H. (2002) Yamato 983885: A second lunar meteorite from the Yamato 98 collection, Antarctic Meteorites XXVII, 49-51.

Kaiden H. and Kojima H. (2002) Yamato 983885: A new lunar meteorite found in Antarctica. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII, abstract no. 1958.

Karouji Y., Arai T., and Ebihara M. (2006) Chemical composition of another KREEP-rich lunar regolith breccia Yamato 983885. In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII, abstract no. 1919.

Kojima H. and Imae N. (2001) Meteorite Newsletter 10(2), 1.

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

Korotev R. L., Irving A. J., and Bunch T. E. (2008) Keeping up with the lunar meteorites – 2008. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, abstract no. 1209.

Korotev R. L, Zeigler R. A., Jolliff B. L., Irving A. J., and Bunch T. E. (2009) Compositional and lithological diversity among brecciated lunar meteorites of intermediate iron composition. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 44, 1287-1322.

Mahajan R. R. (2015) Lunar meteorite Yamato-983885: Noble gases, nitrogen and cosmic ray exposure history. Planetary and Space Science 117, 24-34.

Miura Y. N., Arai T., Karouji Y., and Ebihara M. (2006) Noble gases in the lunar meteorite Yamato 983885, a KREEP-rich lunar regolith breccia. Antarctic Meteorites XXX, 67-68.

Srivastava Y., Sarbadhikari A. B., Day J. M. D., and Yamaguchi A. (2024) Constraints on highly siderophile element abundances in the lunar crust from regolith breccia meteorites Y-981031, Y-983885 and Y-86032. 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, abstract no. 2124.

Warren P. H. and Bridges J. C. (2004) Lunar meteorite Yamato-983885: A relatively KREEPy regolith breccia not paired with Y-791197. 67th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting, abstract no. 5095.