Lunar Meteorite: Northeast Africa (NEA) 001

Sudan 



(I've lost the link to the source of this photo. If it's your photo, please let me know!)

A slice through the meteorite. The white and orange material at the right is terrestrial alteration, mainly calcite and hematite that precipitated from solution in a crack. Other photos that I have seen of slices of the meteorite are similarly altered. In this regard, NEA 001 is the most severly altered lunar meteorite that I have seen. Tick marks on ruler are spaced at 1 mm increments. Click on image for enlargement. (Photo by Randy Korotev)


It's the first lunar meteorite recognized from northeastern Africa.

It is the most altered from terrestrial weathering.
  

 

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 89, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 40, A201–A263 (2005)

Northeast Africa 001

Sudan
Found 2002 April
Lunar meteorite (anorthositic regolith breccia)

A brownish grey stone weighing 262 g was found by a prospector in northern Sudan near the Libya/Egypt/Sudan boundary in 2002 April. Fusion crust is absent, fresh surface is grey to dark
grey, and terrestrial alteration products are present at the meteorite edges and in penetrating cracks and veins. Classification and mineralogy (J. Haloda and P. Tycova, PCU): a clast-rich anorthositic regolith breccia containing numerous mineral fragments and lithic clasts embedded in a well-consolidated microcrystalline impact melt matrix. Lithic clasts (up to 1 cm in size) are
mainly of anorthositic lithologies; impact-melt breccias of anorthositic composition are abundant and show commonly breccia-in-breccia textures. Fragments of primary igneous rocks of anorthositic to gabbroic composition are common, containing plagioclase, An95.1-97.2, low-Ca pyroxene, En46-65 Wo2.1-5, high-Ca pyroxene, En35-48Wo37-44, and rare olivine, Fo79.4. Sparse clasts of mare basalts (consisting of pigeonite plus anorthite plus accessory ilmenite), and glass fragments and spherules are present. Mineral fragments are of various composition: feldspar, An92-99; orthopyroxene, Wo2-4En49-80; clinopyroxene, Wo9-39En50-87; olivine, Fo48-82 (Fe/Mn 93-100 atom%); accessory minerals are Mg-Al spinel, chromite, ilmenite (2-5 wt% MgO), troilite, FeNi metal and silica. Several pyroxene grains have marginal symplectitic intergrowths of fayalite+ hedenbergite+silica after former pyroxferroite. Composition of the impact-melt matrix is (wt%): SiO2 = 45.7, Al2O3 = 24.1, FeO = 7.2, MgO = 7.4, CaO = 14.6, Na2O = 0.5, TiO2 = 0.5. Secondary calcite, barite, gypsum and Fe hydroxides occur in cracks. Specimens: type specimen, 20 g, and one polished thin section, PCU; 5.8 g, and one polished thin section, UWS; 59.66 g, ROM; 60 g, Hupé; 9.7 g, Gregory; main mass with finder.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

NEA 001

References

Haloda J., Irving A. J., and Týcová P. (2005) Lunar meteorite Northeast Africa 001: An anorthositic regolith breccia with mixed highland/mare components (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI, no. 1487, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.

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

Korotev R. L. (2008) Using composition to assess pairing relationships among lunaites. Goldschmidt Conference Abstracts 2008, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72, 12S, p. A492.

Korotev R. L and Irving A. J. (2005) Compositions of three lunar meteorites: Meteorite Hills 01210, Northeast Africa 001, and Northwest Africa 3136 (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI, abstract no. 1220, 36th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston.

Rochette P., Gattacceca J., Ivanov A. V., Nazarov M. A., and Bezaeva N. S. (2010) Magnetic properties of lunar materials: Meteorites, Luna and Apollo returned samples. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.007.

Snape J. F., Joy K. H., Crawford I. A., and Beard A. D. (2008) A petrographic study of lunar meteorite Northeast Africa 001 (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, abstract no. 1316, 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston.

Snape J. F., Joy K. H., and Crawford I. A. (2009) A trace-element investigation of lunar meteorite Northeast Africa 001 (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XL, abstract no. 1539, 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston.

Snape J. F., Joy K. H., and Crawford I. A. (2011) Characterization of multiple lithologies within the lunar feldspathic regolith breccia meteorite Northeast Africa 001. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 46, 1288-1312.

Chemical Classification

Overview | NEA 001

back to


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: 18-Oct-2011