Ksar El Goraane 32°11’13.2’’N, 003°42’04.6’’W
Draâ Tafilalet, Morocco
Confirmed fall: 28 October 2018 22:30 GMT+1
Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5)
History (H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane FSAC, M. Aoudjehane): On October 28th, 2018 around 22:30 (GMT+1) a fireball was spotted by many people from the southeastern and eastern parts of Morocco. The sighting was reported to H. Chennaoui the following day by Y. Oulmaleh who went to the fall site, then by A. Bouferra. A field mission was organized by H. Chennaoui and M. Aoudjehane on November 11, 2018. to the fall area to record the coordinates of recovered pieces and the testimonies of local inhabitants. M. Touhami El Hafidi from Errachidia helped with the field work. Hammou Oubalaid, a shepherd who was out of his tent, described a very shiny light first, yellow then red, relatively low in the sky. It was coming from the east and headed west in the direction of Kaddoussa barrage. It was followed by 5 sonic booms, then a whistling sound that lasted 1 second, followed by a noise comparable to the unloading of a truck of rocks for about 5 s. The sound had awakened his sheep. Mohamed Oubalaid was inside his tent with his wife and his children when they saw a very bright illumination similar to daytime entering the tent. Then they heard 5 sonic booms. Then they heard many muffled sounds like rocks collapse. Many people from the village Ksar El Goraane and the area of the fall reported the same details on the fireball sighting: shiny like the sun, a yellow color, followed by red, between 4 and 5 sonic booms, and the whistling and noises that followed. Zaid Bouidergi, a meteorite hunter, was in Errachidia for the annual exhibition. He was outside and saw on October 28 around 22:30 a brilliant fireball on the North East of Errachidia that went out after a few seconds. A day after, October 29, in the morning, the first piece, weighting at 185 g, was recovered by Lahcen Oubalaid very close to his tent and around 5 km east of Ksar El Goraane village (N32°11’13.2’’; W003°42’04.6’’ Alt 1169 m). On the same day, other pieces were collected. Many Moroccan hunters went there to search for more. 5 g were found by Lahcen Oubalaid and 32 g were found by Addi Oulgaddou from Boudnib. Many small pieces were found in the Essnam plateau. A few days later, a 350 g piece was found SE of Ksar El Goraane village by Abderrahim Rahoui. The plateau where most pieces were found is called Izanarzen plateau, E of Ksar El Goraane village, S of Jebel Tabouaroust lakbir and close to Jebel Tabouaroust Essghir. The strewnfield is around 15 km from the ENE to WSW direction.
Physical characteristics: (H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC) Complete pieces of 350 g, 32 g and 5 g totally covered by black matte to a bit shiny fusion crust. Small pieces show primary and secondary fusion crust. The interior is dark gray. Metal and sulfides are fine grained. Texture is fine grained and homogeneous, with no brecciation visible. Small sized (up to one mm) chondrules are visible. The rock is friable.
Petrography: (C. Agee, UNM) Microprobe examination of a polished mount shows numerous porphyritic chondrules set in a recrystallized groundmass. Plagioclase grains are ubiquitous with sizes up to 25 um in diameter. Abundant FeNi-metal and troilite observed throughout. Magnetic susceptibility log χ (× 10-9 m3/kg)=5.28 to 5.42.
Geochemistry: (C. Agee, UNM) Olivine Fa19.0±0.2, Fe/Mn=38±2, n=31; low-Ca pyroxene Fs16.5±0.2Wo1.4±0.3, n=16.
Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5)
Specimens: 40.4 g at FSAC (20.4 g provided by the "Moroccan association of meteorites", and small pieces totaling 20 g provided by Abderrahim Rahoui). 0.9 g at UNM; 21.2 g including one polished thin section at UWB.
