Lunar Meteorite

Sayh al Uhaymir 449

Oman

A slice of Sayh al Uhaymir 449 in the lab. Milliimeter ticks for scale. Click on image for enlargement.

(photo credit: Randy Korotev)

Our sample of Dhofar 925, above, is compositionally indistinguishable from SaU 449.

(photo credit: Randy Korotev)

from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 93, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 43, 571–632 (2007)

Sayh al Uhaymir 449

Sultanate of Oman
Find: 2006 March 19 
Mass: 16.5 g

Lunar (feldspathic impact melt breccia)

History: This meteorite was found on a limestone plateau in the Dhofar desert of Sultanate of Oman, far from any other known lunar meteorites.

Physical characteristics: A single brownish to dark green stone weighing 16.5 g, with no fusion crust.

Petrography: (Ivanova M.A. and Nazarov M.A., Vernad) The meteorite is a clast-rich impact melt breccia containing numerous mineral fragments and lithic clasts embedded in a fine-grained impact-melt matrix. The lithic clast population is dominated by impact-melt breccias of anorthositic, gabbroic, and noritic compositions. The size range of the clasts is 0.01-10 mm, and the main minerals are pyroxene, feldspar, and minor olivine, silica, chromite, ilmenite, Ca-phosphate, troilite and FeNi metal.

Mineral compositions and geochemistry: (Ivanova M.A. and Kononkova N.N., Vernad.) Feldspar (An_93.4-97.4Ab_2.5-9.2), clinopyroxene (En_6.5-71.1Wo_5.1-44.1; Fe/Mn = 61), orthopyroxene (En_53.2-79.5Wo_3.3-4.7; Fe/Mn = 59); olivine (Fo_50.5-76.7; Fe/Mn = 96), ilmenite (MgO = 3.6 wt%). Average glassy matrix composition: SiO₂ = 46.2, TiO₂ = 0.33, Al₂O₃ = 25.6, FeO = 5.80, MgO = 4.85, CaO = 15.33, Na₂O = 0.38 [all in wt.%].

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic impact melt breccia); minor weathering, Fe hydroxides are present.

Specimen: A type specimen of 3.6 g and one thin section are on deposit at Vernad. An anonymous finder holds the main mass of the meteorite.

Randy Says…

Compositionally and texturally, it's just like Dhofar 925, allegedly collected ~210 km to the south. That's probably too far apart for the stones to be paired, unless the stones have or have been moved since they fell.

More Information

Meteoritical Bulletin Database

Sayh al Uhaymir 449

Map

Schematic Map of the Find Locations of the Dhofar Lunar Meteorites

References

Calzada-Diaz A., Joy K. H., Crawford I. A., and Nordheim T. A. (2015) Constraining the source regions of lunar meteorites using orbital geochemical data. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 50, 214-228.

Joy K. H., Nemchin A., Grange M., Lapen T. J., Peslier A. H., Ross D. K., Zolensky M. E., and Kring D. A. (2014) Petrography, geochronology and source terrain characteristics of lunar meteorites Dhofar 925, 961 and Sayh al Uhaymir 449. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 299-325, DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2014.08.013.

Korochantseva E. V., Buikin A. I., Hopp J., Korochantsev A. V., and Trieloff M. (2016) ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar results of lunar meteorites Dhofar 025, 280, 309, 730, 733, 1436, 1442, SaU 449, NWA 6888 (abstract). 79th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, abstract no. 6317.

Korotev R. L. (2011) Lunar meteorites from Antarctica and Oman (abstract). 74th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, abstract no. 5073.

Korotev R. L. (2012) Lunar meteorites from Oman. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 47, 1365–1402. doi: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2012.01393.x

Korotev R. L., Zeigler R. A., Irving A. J., and Bunch T. E. (2009) Keeping up with the Lunar Meteorites — 2009 (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XL, abstract no. 1137, 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston.

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.

Korotev R. L., Zeigler R. A., and Jolliff B. L. (2010) New geochemical constraints on pairing of the Dhofar 961 clan of lunar meteorites (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XLI, abstract no. 2126, 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Nazarov M. A., Aranovich Ya., Demidova S. I., Ntaflos T., and Brandstätter F. (2011) Aluminous enstatites of lunar meteorites and deep-seated lunar rocks. Petrology 19 (1), 13-25.

Zeigler R. A., Jolliff B. L., and Korotev R. L. (2010) Petrography and pairing relationships of lunar meteorites Sayh al Uhaymir 449 and Dhofar 925, 960, and 961 (abstract). In Lunar and Planetary Science XLI, abstract no. 1985, 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Zeigler R. A., Jolliff B. L., and Korotev R. L. (2013) Lunar meteorites Sayh al Uhaymir 449 and Dhofar 925, 960, and 961: Windows into South Pole Aitken Basin? (abstract). In 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, abstract no. 2437.

Back to: Lunar Meteorites | List of Lunar Meteorites | Top of Page

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 that
you’ve found until you read this and this.

e-mail: korotev@wustl.edu

Last revised: 29 January 2018