Ron Baalke
Sample no: EET96008 Location: Elephant Moraine Dimensions (cm): 4.5 x 3.5 x 1.5 Weight (g): 52.97 Meteorite Type: Lunar Basaltic Breccia
Macroscopic Description: Kathleen McBride
50% of the meteorite is covered by a black glassy fusion crust. Areas that lack fusion crust appear virtually unweathered. The fusion crust is very thinly distributed over the surface of the rock. The matrix is fine grained, medium gray and tan are are angular and subangular in shape. Metal and rust are not visible. This is a breciated basalt, possibly lunar in origin.
Thin section (,4) Description: Brian Mason
The section shows a microbreccia of pyroxene and plagioclase clasts, up to 1.2 mm across; traces of nickel-iron and sulfide are present, as small scattered grains. Microprobes analyses show that most of the pyroxene ranges from Wo11Fs31 to Wo40Fs18, with a few more iron-rich grains; plagioclase composition in An93-96. A few olivine grains of variable compositions, Fa41-64, were analyzed. Fe/Mn in pyroxene is about 70. The meteorite is a lunar basaltic breccia.
Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter
February 1998
Nakhla is a 1300 million year old Martian meteorite, the first one in which carbonates were identified. Nakhla fell as a shower of stones in 1911; several of the stones are in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London.
One completely fusion-crusted stone has been kept unbroken since its acquisition in 1913.
The Natural History Museum is now prepared to offer samples of this stone to scientists for appropriate analyses. The Antarctic Meteorite Processing Group had kindly agreed to allow the stone to be broken and sub-divided at the Curatorial Facility at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, prior to the LPSC in March.
There is no formal deadline for sample requests, but the material available is limited. Coordinated approaches from groups of scientists undertaking complementary studies are encouraged. Those requests submitted to the Museum by April 3 will be processed in April. Those arriving later will be delayed for several months.
For further details and to submit requests, contact:
Dr. Monica M. Grady Dept. of Mineralogy The Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD E-Mail: mmg@nhm.ac.uk
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