5.73g Lunar Basalt NWA 032 Rare Early Lunar Meteorite Classification
On offer: 5.73g rare lunar basalt meteorite NWA 032. An early NWA classification and one of the first lunar basalts to come out of the dry deserts and become available to the collector market. This particular lunar basalt (NWA 032) almost never comes on the open market, truly a rare treat of an opportunity for the lunar connoisseur.
Approximate Dimensions: 21.64 mm x 14.54 mm x 9.69 mm
Official name: NWA 032
Classification: Lunar Basaltic Breccia
Description: This is a 5.73 gram specimen of a rare basaltic lunar meteorite that was ejected from the Moon's surface when another meteorite struck that area of the Moon with enough force to send pieces into an Earth crossing trajectory.
The lunar basalt specimens are unlike most of the lunar meteorites on the market, which are feldspathic breccia and are more common among the lunar meteorites types. The basalts instead show a more rapidly quenched basaltic texture. This is a stunning lunar meteorite. These lunar meteorites offer a unique and beautiful interior, unlike any other meteorite.
What you get: 5.73 gram specimen of the lunar basalt meteorite as shown, shipping/storage membrane box, and a signed certificate of authenticity.
| Northwest Africa 032 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Basic information |
Name: Northwest Africa 032 This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name. Abbreviation: NWA 032 Observed fall: No Year found: 1999 Country: Morocco Mass: 300 g |
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| Classification history: |
This is 1 of 22 approved meteorites classified as Lunar (basalt). [show all] Search for other: Lunar meteorites |
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| Writeup |
Writeup from MB 84: Northwest Africa 032 Morocco , near Algerian border Found 1999 October Lunar meteorite (olivine-pyroxene basalt) A stone of ~ 300 g was found in the desert (see Table 9). Classification and mineralogy (T. Fagan, UHaw; T. Bunch and J. Wittke, NAU): olivine, pyroxene, and chromite phenocrysts occur in a groundmass of elongate, zoned pyroxene (En1–25Wo15–25) and feldspar ( ~ An85) crystals radiating from common nucleation sites; opaque phases include elongate, skeletal ilmenite, troilite, and trace metal; olivine phenocrysts ( ~ 12 vol%) up to 300 μm are zoned from Fo65 (cores) to Fo60 (rims) and commonly have chromite inclusions; pyroxene phenocrysts ( ~ 5 vol%) are complexly zoned, with En4 0–50 Wo20–40 and En15–25Wo10–20 domains; both olivine and pyroxene phenocrysts surrounded by Fe-rich quenched margins (olivines, ~ Fo30; pyroxenes, En5–25Wo15–30); glass with ~ 45.7 wt% SiO2 occurs in semicontinuous shock veins up to 50 μm wide; some terrestrial weathering products are present in fractures, but primary assemblage is essentially unaltered. Oxygen-isotopic compositions (R. Clayton, UChi): δ18O = +5.63‰, δ17O = +2.92‰. Bulk composition (in wt%, E. Jarosewich, SI): SiO2 = 44.7; TiO2 = 3.08; Al2O3 = 8.74; FeO = 23.0; MnO = 0.33; MgO = 8.45; CaO = 10.9; Na2O = 0.37; K2O = 0.11; H2O = 0.06. Specimens: type specimen, about 5–6 g, contact T. Bunch, NAU; 1.1 g plus thin section, UHaw; main mass, 260 g, Radomsky. |
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| Data from: MB84 Table 9 Line 32: |
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| Plots: | O isotopes: | ||||||||||||||||
| Institutions and collections |
NAU: Geology, Bldg 12 Knoles Dr Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States; Website (institutional address; updated 12 Apr 2012) SI: Department of Mineral Sciences, NHB-119, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, United States; Website (institutional address; updated 16 Jan 2012) UChi: University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States (institutional address; updated 28 Feb 2011) Radomsky: Walt Radomsky, Rutgers Meteorite Laboratory, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States (private address; updated 26 Apr 2005) UHaw: Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States (institutional address; updated 25 Oct 2011) |
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