[meteorite-list] AD: Special: The new, fresh and very peculiar Martian meteorite NWA 6963

From: Chladnis Heirs <news_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 20:28:30 +0100
Message-ID: <001001cc9f15$c3bdd7b0$4b398710$_at_com>

Dear collectors,


Today we have once again the especial pleasure to continue our serial of new
finds
of unpaired and extraordinary Martian meteorites.

It's about the most recent Martian recovery of this year, which has found
its way already as NWA 6963 into the Meteoritical Bulletin.

Again it is an unusually fresh material. NWA 6963 owns a very good
glossy-black fusion crust and the interior presents itself to be absolutely
unaltered by terrestrial weathering.
What is remarkable about NWA 6963 is that it doesn't belong to the olivine-
and olivine-orthopyroxene-phyric main group, but that we have here a basalt,
which resembles, if anything, Shergotty.

Already the first long- and eagerly awaited cut revealed the fantastic
texture of this Mars rock.
The crystallization pattern consist of a a dense and angular lattice of
broad spindles and bars, much more distinctly and clearer pronounced than
that one
of Zagami or Shergotty, of which some of you might feel reminded of.
And other than these, which are gray, does NWA 6963 attend upon us with an
accented greenish tint,
which turns that shergottite into an acutely aesthetical delight.

Classified was NWA 6963 this time by Dr. Carl Agee at the university of New
Mexico.
NWA 6963 is highly shocked, so that the plagioclase is completely
transformed into maskelynite.
The bulk composition is 60% pyroxene, 35% maskelynite, 2% ulv?spinel.
Additionally it contains melt pockets with traces of merrillite, pyrrhotite
and chlorapatite.
Of course no abstracts are on hand yet, according to reports the composition
of the pyroxene shall be very similar to that of Shergotty, and hearsay
tells,
that the bulk chemistry could point also in the direction of NWA 480/1460.

Therefore a lot of research is still to do and with that NWA 6963 the
scientist certainly will be occupied for quite a while, like it was
with the previous, each for its own very special Martian meteorites, where
we had the possibility to introduce them here on the list,
and so we can look forward to thrilling results and publications still to
come!

Here you are now.
All specimens down to 1.6g do have minimum one fully fusion-crusted edge.
The smaller ones sometimes and here and there a few specks of crust.
Note also, that this time, seen the news value, the freshness and the
specialty of that amazing material among the other Martians and regarding
the overall price level of the Martians of the last 2 years,
we kept the offer tempting:


http://www.chladnis-heirs.com/specials/special-nwa6369.html



Enjoy and Success!

Stefan & Martin

Chladni's Heirs
Munich - Berlin
Fine Meteorites for Science & Collectors

http://www.chladnis-heirs.com
Received on Wed 09 Nov 2011 02:28:30 PM PST