Lunaite - lunar picrite (North West Africa 6950 Meteorite), 104 grams. (Maine Mineral & Gem Museum collection, Bethel, Maine, USA)
This Moon rock (nicknamed NWA 6950) was found in Algeria in 2011. It has been classified as a cumulate olivine gabbro. Considering it is dominated by greenish-colored olivine, three types of pyroxene, with minor plagioclase feldspar, that is a mis-classification. This is not a gabbro - it's a picrite, formed in an ancient subsurface magma chamber on the Moon. The rock formed by crystal settling from slowly cooling magma. The blackish-colored, irregular lines are impact shock veins.
This rock is actually a large clast from a lunar regolith breccia. Other named meteorites that come from the same regolith breccia sample include Anoual, NWA 773, NWA 2700, NWA 2977, NWA 3160, NWA 3170, NWA 3333, NWA 7007, and NWA 8127.
More info. on NWA 6950:
www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Northwest+Africa+...
Tags: lunaite lunar picrite olivine gabbro cumulate Northwest Africa 6950 Algeria 2011 NWA North West pyroxene plagioclase
Lunaite - lunar picrite (Northwest Africa 6950 Meteorite), 104 grams. (Maine Mineral & Gem Museum collection, Bethel, Maine, USA)
This Moon rock (nicknamed NWA 6950) was found in Algeria in 2011. It has been classified as a cumulate olivine gabbro. Considering it is dominated by greenish-colored olivine, three types of pyroxene, with minor plagioclase feldspar, that is a mis-classification. This is not a gabbro - it's a picrite, formed in an ancient subsurface magma chamber on the Moon. The rock formed by crystal settling from slowly cooling magma. The blackish-colored, irregular lines are impact shock veins.
This rock is actually a large clast from a lunar regolith breccia. Other named meteorites that come from the same regolith breccia sample include Anoual, NWA 773, NWA 2700, NWA 2977, NWA 3160, NWA 3170, NWA 3333, NWA 7007, and NWA 8127.
More info. on NWA 6950:
www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Northwest+Africa+...
Tags: lunaite lunar picrite olivine gabbro cumulate Northwest Africa 6950 Algeria 2011 NWA North West pyroxene plagioclase
Lunaite - lunar breccia (Northwest Africa 11517 Meteorite). (intact, weathered individual; ~2.5 centimeters across at its widest)
This Moon rock, NWA 11517, was found in 2017 in northwestern Africa, near Tindouf, Algeria. It has been classified as a "lunar feldspathic breccia", which is not a great lithologic term. The rock is rich in calcic plagioclase feldspar, but the clasts are a mix of different rock types and mineral types. A better term is "lunar lithic breccia" or "lunar polymict breccia". Reported clast types includes various igneous rocks (gabbro, anorthosite, basalt, vitrophyre), impact melt rocks, and mineral fragments (olivine, pyroxene, baddeleyite, ulvospinel, ilmenite, chromite, troilite, kamacite, taenite). The matrix surrounding the small angular clasts is microvesicular. The orangish brown-colored material covering portions of the surface is from weathering while on Earth - this has been identified as "caliche", even though it is not. No fusion crust is present.
Only four samples of NWA 11517 are known. This is the second-largest of those rocks. The four specimens weigh 88 grams in total.
However, NWA 11517 is paired with at least 30 other northwestern Africa meteorites. It is a member of the NWA 8046 clan, also known as the Algerian Megafind. Many unnamed, unclassified specimens also belong to this group. Together, they make up the largest known lunar meteorite - a total of about 65 kilograms of material is currently known.
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More info. on NWA 11517 and the NWA 8046 clan:
www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=NWA&sfor=name...
and
meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/stones/nwa8046.htm
Tags: Northwest Africa NWA 11517 Meteorite meteorites lunar lunaite lithic polymict breccia angular clasts Moon 8046 clan Tindouf Algeria
Lunaite - lunar breccia (Northwest Africa 11517 Meteorite). (intact, weathered individual; ~2.5 centimeters across at its widest)
This Moon rock, NWA 11517, was found in 2017 in northwestern Africa, near Tindouf, Algeria. It has been classified as a "lunar feldspathic breccia", which is not a great lithologic term. The rock is rich in calcic plagioclase feldspar, but the clasts are a mix of different rock types and mineral types. A better term is "lunar lithic breccia" or "lunar polymict breccia". Reported clast types includes various igneous rocks (gabbro, anorthosite, basalt, vitrophyre), impact melt rocks, and mineral fragments (olivine, pyroxene, baddeleyite, ulvospinel, ilmenite, chromite, troilite, kamacite, taenite). The matrix surrounding the small angular clasts is microvesicular. The orangish brown-colored material covering portions of the surface is from weathering while on Earth - this has been identified as caliche. No fusion crust is present.
Only four samples of NWA 11517 are known. This is the second-largest of those rocks. The four specimens weigh 88 grams in total.
However, NWA 11517 is paired with at least 30 other northwestern Africa meteorites. It is a member of the NWA 8046 clan, also known as the Algerian Megafind. Many unnamed, unclassified specimens also belong to this group. Together, they make up the largest known lunar meteorite - a total of about 65 kilograms of material is currently known.
---------------------------
More info. on NWA 11517 and the NWA 8046 clan:
www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=NWA&sfor=name...
and
meteorites.wustl.edu/lunar/stones/nwa8046.htm
Tags: Northwest Africa NWA 11517 Meteorite meteorites lunar lunaite lithic polymict breccia angular clasts Moon 8046 clan Tindouf Algeria
(cut slice with polished surface; ~6.2 centimeters across at its widest)
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The “HED meteorites” are howardites, eucrites, and diogenites. They are rock samples from the Asteroid Belt between Mars & Jupiter. Unlike many meteorite types, HED meteorites have been successfully linked to a known, named parent body. Most meteorites are simply referred to as coming from “some parent body” in the asteroid belt. Chemical evidence indicates that HED meteorites are likely derived from Vesta, the 2nd-largest body in the Asteroid Belt and the largest asteroid there (Ceres is the # 1 largest body, but it is a dwarf planet, not an asteroid, despite what some may assert). The most common Vestan rocks are eucrites - basaltic rocks from Vesta’s crust. Seen here is diogenite, a less common type of Vestan rock. Diogenites are Vestan pyroxenites - ultramafic, intrusive igneous rocks dominated by one or more types of pyroxene. They apparently come from either the lower crust of Vesta.
This specimen is from the NWA 4664 Meteorite. It was found in 2006 in Algeria, northwestern Africa. Its lithology has been referred to as a diogenite breccia (a.k.a. diogenite polymict breccia; diogenite cataclastic breccia). The original pyroxenite was crushed, pulverized, and shock metamorphosed during an ancient impact event. NWA 4664 is about 92% orthopyroxene, 4% forsterite olivine, 2% bytownite feldspar, 2% augite pyroxene, less than 1% each of chromite and troilite, plus trace minerals.
Tags: diogenite NWA 4664 North West Africa Northwest Meteorite meteorites Algeria Vesta Vestan pyroxene pyroxenite breccia orthopyroxene