[meteorite-list] UNM Identifies Meteorite Found in Africa As Youngest Lunar Rock Yet (NWA 773)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Dec 29 19:36:34 2004
Message-ID: <200412300036.QAA19483_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=15960

UNM identifies meteorite found in Africa as youngest lunar rock yet
Associated Press
December 29, 2004

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - University of New Mexico researchers have identified
a 2.9 billion-year-old lunar meteorite, which is now the youngest dated
lunar rock.

UNM's sample was obtained from the Natural History Museum in London.
It's named Northwest Africa 773, or NWA 773, to describe where it was
found in 2000.

Lars Borg, a senior research scientist in the earth and planetary
sciences department, said the team uses geochronology to date lunar and
Martian meteorites.

To study NWA 773, they washed and crushed part of the sample to help
remove impurities and contaminants from the African desert.

The team's work confirmed it's the youngest crystallization age from
previously dated lunar samples by about 250 million years.
Received on Wed 29 Dec 2004 07:36:26 PM PST