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Lunar Meteorite: Dhofar 733

Oman




photo courtesy http://www.meteorites21.com/dhofar733.htm




A very small block of Dhofar 733
(Photo by Randy Korotev)


It is compositionally distint from the other lunar meteorites from Oman, and the composition is unusual.

This is a meteorite for which we scientists would dearly love to have a another 0.5-gram sample to study.
  

from The Meteoritical Bulletin No. 87, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 38, A189-A248 (2003)

Dhofar 733

18°35.3' N, 54°13.8' E 

Oman 
Found 2002 November 12
Lunar meteorite (anorthositic granulitic breccia) 

A brownish grey stone weighing 98 g was found in the Dhofar region of Oman. Mineralogy and classification (S. Demidova, Vernad; G. Kurat, MNHV): fusion crust is absent; the rock contains relics of mineral and lithic clasts and shows granoblastic or poikiloblastic textures; anorthositic, troctolitic and gabbro-noritic lithologies are present. Mineral compositions: feldspar, An89-96; orthopyroxene, Wo4-5En73-76; clinopyroxene, Wo36-40En48-52; olivine, Fo71-76 (Fe/Mn ~87 at). Accessory minerals are armalcolite, ilmenite, Al-Chromite, Ca-phosphate, troilite, and FeNi metal (31-43 wt% Ni; 1.3-1.7 wt% Co); lath-shaped armalcolite is most common; the stone is moderately weathered; smectite, gypsum, and Fe hydroxides are present. Dho 733 was found far away from other lunar stones collected in the Dhofar region and has a distinctly different texture. It is probably not paired with any other Dhofar lunar finds known so far. Specimens: type specimens of 20 g, and a thin section, Vernad; main mass with anonymous finder.
  

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

Dhofar 733

Map

Schematic Map of the Find Locations of the Dhofar Lunar Meteorites

References

Demidova S. I., Nazarov M. A., Lorenz C. A., Kurat G., Brandstätter F., and Ntaflos Th. (2007) Chemical composition of lunar meteorites and the lunar crust. Petrology 15 (4), 386-407.

Foreman A. B., Korotev R. L., Jolliff B. L., and Zeigler R. A. (2008) Petrography and geochemistry of Dhofar 733 – An unusually sodic, feldspathic lunar meteorite (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, abstract no. 1853, 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston.

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

Shukolyukov, Y. A., Nazarov, M. A., Ott, U. (2004) Noble gases in new lunar meteorites from Oman: Irradiation history, trapped gases, and cosmic-ray exposure and K-Ar ages. Geochemistry International 42, 1001–1017.

Chemical Classification

Overview | Dhofar 733

 

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Prepared by:

Randy L. Korotev

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Washington University in St. Louis

Please don't contact me about the meteorite you think you’ve found until you read this and this.

e-mail: korotev@wustl.edu

Last revised: 10-Jul-2009