Northwest Africa 3136 Lunar Meteorite

Polished surface of NWA 3136.
Polished surface of NWA 3136.


Official Meteoritical Bulletin entry for Northwest Africa 3136:

Northwest Africa 3136
     Algeria or Morocco
     Purchased 2004 April
     Lunar meteorite (basaltic regolith breccia)

An oriented 95.1 g shield-shaped stone with partial thin, pale brown fusion crust found in Algeria or Morocco was purchased in Tagounite by a Moroccan dealer for A. and G. Hupé (xHupé) in 2004 April.  The specimen has a thin, dark weathering varnish, but the interior is a very fresh, black, hard, vitreous-looking rock with small white to yellowish clasts.  Classification and mineralogy (S. Kuehner and A. Irving, UWS):  Polymict breccia consisting of mineral and lithic clasts derived predominantly from mare basalt and mare microgabbro lithologies, and additionally some highlands clasts, in a very fine grained, mostly crystalline and partly vitreous, vesicular matrix.  Mineral clasts include calcic plagioclase (An86-97), pyroxenes (orthopyroxene, ferropigeonite, ferrosilite, pyroxferroite; FeO/MnO = 68.9-75.8), olivine (mostly Fa30-43, but ranging to nearly pure fayalite; FeO/MnO = 81.9-94.2), ilmenite, Ni-poor Fe metal, troilite, Cr-bearing ulvöspinel, and rare pentlandite, baddeleyite, and a Ce-Ca-Fe-bearing, Zr-rich titanate (probably zirconolite).  A further description can be found in (Kuehner et al., 2005). Bulk compositions (R. Korotev, WUSL): INAA of several subsamples indicate that this specimen is dominated by mare components with ~20% lunar highland components (Korotev and Irving, 2005). Oxygen isotopes (D. Rumble, CIW): analyses of two whole rock fragments by laser fluorination gave δ18O = +5.83, 5.96, δ17O = +3.06, 3.10, Δ17O = -0.03, -0.05 per mil, respectively.   Specimens: type specimens, 19.5 g, two polished thin sections, and one polished mount, UWS; main mass, xHupé.

Scientific abstracts and news regarding NWA 3136:

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.
http://epsc.wustl.edu/%7Erlk/papers/korotev_et_al_2009_m&ps_intermediate_iron.pdf

O’Donnell S. P., Jolliff B. L., Zeigler R. A., and Korotev R. L.
(2008) Identifying the mafic components in lunar regolith breccia NWA 3136 (abstract).
In Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, abstract no. 2507,
39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston.
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/abstracts/lpsc39/a_l08o01.pdf

Nishiizumi K. and Caffee M. W.
(2006) Constraining the number of lunar and martian meteorite falls (abstract).
In Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 41, p. A133,
69th Annual Meeting, Meteoritical Society.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metsoc2006/pdf/5368.pdf

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.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/pdf/1220.pdf

Kuehner S.M., Irving A.J., Rumble D., III, Hupé A.C., and Hupé G.M.
(2005) Mineralogyand petrology of lunar meteorite NWA 3136:
A glass-welded mare regolith breccia of mixed heritage (abstract).
In Lunar Planet. Sci. XXXVI, abstract no. 1228,
Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/pdf/1228.pdf


False-color BSE image showing vesiculated matrix.
False-color BSE image showing vesiculated matrix.
  False-color BSE image showing glass spherules.
False-color BSE image showing glass spherules.

False-color BSE image showing big basalt clast.
False-color BSE image showing big basalt clast.
  False-color BSE image showing melted basalt clast.
False-color BSE image showing melted basalt clast.

Copyright 2012 - Current All Rights Reserved Nature's Vault, Inc.