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NWA 1068

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Northwest Africa 1068 (NWA 1068)

NWA 1068
nwa1068_4_s.jpg
Photo © Bruno Fectay & Carine Bidaut
JPEG (156K)

The main mass of NWA 1068.
NWA 1068
nwa1068_3_s.jpg
Photo © Bruno Fectay & Carine Bidaut
JPEG (119K)

A section cut out of the main mass showing the interior. 


                    THE METEORITICAL BULLETIN
                 Announcement 86-1, April 5, 2002
               Sara Russell, Editor (sara.russell@nhm.ac.uk)
          Jutta Zipfel, Assoc. Ed. for Saharan Meteorites 
                  (zipfel@mpch-mainz.mpg.de)
    Jeffrey N. Grossman, Assoc. Ed. for Web (jgrossman@usgs.gov)
                 Monica M. Grady, Co-Editor 

Northwest Africa 1068
  Morocco
  Found 2001 April
  Martian meteorite (basaltic shergottite)
In 2001 April, meteorite hunters of the local team of "La Mimoire de 
la Terre" recovered 23 stones (one large mass, 522 g, and 22 small  
fragments, <20 g; total known mass, 576.77 g) in the Moroccan Sahara. 
Rocks are greenish-brown and partially coated by desert varnish;  no 
fusion crust; cracks filled with terrestrial calcium carbonate. Thin 
shock veins and small melt pockets are abundant. Classification,  
mineralogy and bulk chemistry (J.-A. Barrat, UAng, A. Jambon, UPVI, 
M. Bohn, I-CB, Ph. Gillet, ENSL, V. Sautter, MNHNP, Ch. Gvpel, IPGP,  
M. Lesourd, SCIAM): consists of olivine (50 um to 2 mm) in a fine-
grained groundmass (average grain size ~100 um) of euhedral to  
subhedral pyroxene crystals and interstitial maskelynite; minor 
phases are chromite, Ti-chromite, ilmenite, ulvvspinel, sulfides,  
merrillite, apatite, and a K-rich mesostasis; impact melt pockets (up 
to 1.5 mm long) contain pyrrhotite spherules. Modal abundances of  
impact melt pockets and calcite free areas: 52 vol% pyroxenes, 22 % 
maskelynite, 21 % olivine, 2 % phosphates, 2 % opaque oxides and  
sulfides, and 1 % K-rich mesostasis. Mineralogy: olivine (Fa28 to 
Fa58); pyroxenes: pigeonite (En57Wo5Fs28 to En40Wo13Fs47; fe# (100  
Fe/(Fe+Mg) == 29-54 at. %) and augite (En55Wo21Fs24 to En35Wo28Fs36; 
fe# == 29-51 at. %) are present as separate crystals in roughly equal  
volume proportions; maskelynite is zoned (An53Ab45Or2 to An49Ab48Or3) 
but is locally An-poor (An35Ab57Or8); FeO-rich merrillite (FeO 1.3  
and 2.8 wt.%); apatites, Cl 0.5-2.5 wt% and F 1.1-6.4 wt%; chromite 
have Ti-rich rims; ulvvspinels contain fine ilmenite lamellae (< 1  
um thick). An interstitial K-rich component, probably a shock-
produced glass of alkali feldspar and silica, is generally associated 
with  Fe-Ti oxides. Bulk chemistry: Al-poor ferroan basaltic rock, 
rich in MgO with major element abundances similar to those reported 
for  EETA79001 lithology A. Key element weight ratios are Fe/Mn == 45, 
Al/Ti == 6.6, Na/Ti == 1.83, and Na/Al == 0.28. REE pattern similar to  
Shergotty, Zagami, and Los Angeles. Specimens: type specimen, 20 g 
and 2 polished sections, ENSL; main mass, Fectay.

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