[meteorite-list] NEW LUNAR monzogabbro meteorite looks like a Shergottite

From: Rob McCafferty <rob_mccafferty_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:09:43 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <922024.10048.qm_at_web50906.mail.yahoo.com>

I am not going to claim any authority in the area of
geology but I will claim a good experience of
Anorthosite, a principle constituent of the lunar
surface. The Isle of Harris, the next island down from
me [is actually connected to my island, Lewis, by a
land bridge] has an entire mountain made from the
stuff, despite it's rare nature and I've collected
plenty of it to decorate my garden.
It weathers by ice and abrasion to the same gorgeous
white colour of the genesis rock brought back by the
Apollo 15 crew. This is not surprising since their
rock was weathered on the outside too, but that stone
was impact weathered only.

Inside the rocks from harris they are remarkably
crystaline, quite grey in appearance and U took the
liberty of borrowing a lathe[?] to polish a small
section of a chunk i rather brutally chipped off with
a chisel. Apart from the colour, it looks very like a
piece of SAU008/005, a shergottite.

In all honesty and with hindsight, it does not
surprise me that a lunar meteorite may well look like
a martian one.

Anorthosite I believe, is a plutonic rock and since
most of the white part of the moon is made from it,
the only surpise to me, after thinking about it, is
that one that looks like a shergottite has not been
discovered before.

I suggest that aeons of impacts on the moon do not
leave big enough chunks near the surface to preserve
the structure of the rock and that is why we haven't
seen one before. Having said that, we've only really
been looking for a few years.
Meteorites have, at least the potential to come from
deeper than the long weathered surface materials
brought back by the Apollo crews. This all makes sense
to me, if it is a confirmed discovery.

In a differentiated body the size of the moon and
mars, I think, in retrospect, we should not be
surprised at all.

Obviously, if this turns out to be a hoax, I absolve
myself of all I have said here on the grounds that I
have never heard of monzogabbro before. Gabbro is just
a feldspar with less than 60% or is it 40%[?]
anorthosite. What the frip does monzo mean? I thought
he was a character in the muppet show.

Rob McC
{the man with a million tons of fake moon rock}

--- gipometeorites <carsten.giessler at t-online.de>
wrote:

> Hi List,
>
> Aziz Habibi asked me to forward a email from him to
> the list,
> so here it is:
>
> dear list,
>
> here is the first lunar monzogabbro!!, as you will
> read in the classification; it's also the first
> lunar to look like a shergotite.
>
> under microscope it's looking exactly like a
> shergotite from the texture..
>
> with all modesty this is one of the most important
> planetary meteorite.a very rare classification .
>
> enjoy photo in this link and here is the
> classification done by doctor Albert Jambon from
> upvi Paris.
>
> ..... yes a lunar with a"" Martian""shergtoite
> texture.????....
>
>
>
> go to this link and click on lunar album nwa 4683.
>
> http://photos.yahoo.com/azizhabibi....
>
>
>
> to understand how it's classified as monzogabbro
> check out this link.
>
>
http://www.uwgb.edu/DutchS/PETROLGY/classification_of_igneous_rocks.htm.
>
> enjoy photo in this link and here is the
> classification done by doctor Albert Jambon from
> upvi Paris.
>
>
>
> there are other album including a new oriented
> Martian and a very fresh lodranites.
>
> all the best,
>
> aziz habibi
>
>
>
> Proposed Name NWA 4683
> Geographic Coordinates1
> undisclosed.
>
> Erfoud Morocco
>
> Find : october of 2006
>
> Major classification (group) Achondrite (Lunar
> monzogabbro)
>
>
>
> History: two pieces bought from nomads in Erfoud
> (Morocco).
>
> Physical characteristics: One stone broken in two
> pieces 68 and 409g. Dull black fusion crust on one
> side, weathered on the other side. It is a gray,
> coarse grained, pristine magmatic rock consisting of
> millimetric phenocrysts mainly of pyroxene and
> plagioclase.
>
>
>
> Petrography: A. Jambon, O. Boudouma and D. Badia.
> UPVI .
>
> The texture is best described as shergottitic like .
> Pyroxene are highly fractured while plagioclase
> laths, partly transformed to maskelynite, are only
> affected by a small number of fractures. Silica and
> silica-feldspar glass are minor components. A few
> impact melt patches underline the similarity with
> shergottites further. Ilmenite, baddeleyite,
> zirconolite, tranquilityite, pyrrhotite and metal.
> Fayalite associated with silica probably results
> from the dissociation of iron rich pyroxene. Minor
> terrestrial alteration.
>
> Mode (vol %): Cpx 50, Plagioclase + Kspar 32,
> silica + glass 7.5, opaques (ilmenite, Ti-magnetite,
> pyrrhotite) + fayalite 7, voids + fractures 3.
>
>
>
> Geochemistry: Mineralogy by EMP and SEM.(Trace and
> major element analyses ICP-MS, J-A Barrat UBO).
>
> Pyroxene exhibit a complex zoning from En65Fs21Wo13
> to En2Fs83Wo15 with a FeO/MnO of 78 on the average.
> A few compositions correspond to pyroxferroite.
> Plagioclase is normally zoned from An 91 to An 75
> with a sharp rim. Average composition An 89.
> Fayalite (Fo 80 to 95).
>
> Chondrite normalized REE pattern with an enrichment
> of 53 (La) to 40 (Yb). Trace element pattern with
> negative anomalies of Sr and Eu.
>
> Interstitial glass high in silica (75%) containing
> microcrysts of K feldspar with a significant celsian
> component.
>
> The chemistry, major and trace elements, but not the
> texture, is identical to NWA 032-479-773 and LAP
> 02205-02224-02226-02234-02436-03632.The absence of
> olivine and the relative abundance of silica in NWA
> 4683 are the main differences beside the grain size
> and the slightly different composition of the major
> phases.
>
>
>
>
>
> Classification: According to the grain size, the
> texture, the plagioclase composition, the core
> composition of pyroxenes, the FeO/MnO ratio in
> pyroxene and the chemical identity with lunar
> basalts, it is classified as a highly shocked lunar
> monzogabbro.
>
>
>
>
>
> Type specimens: A total of 20 g of sample and one
> polished section is on deposit at UPVI.. Aziz H.
> holds the main mass .
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> MR HABIBI
>
> palm's hotel club .
>
> www.palmotel.com.
>
> email.. direction at palmotel.com.
>
> phone = 21235576144/45/37
>
> fax = 21295576170
> > ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>



 
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Received on Wed 28 Feb 2007 05:09:43 PM PST