Itqiy

Saguia el Hamra, Western Sahara

Fell ~1990

Ungrouped enstatite-rich meteorite

In the year 1990 (±1 year), after a detonation and the appearance of light, one stone of 410 g was recovered near Itqiy by a nomad. A larger stone weighing 4310 g was recovered by Marc, Luc, and Jim Labenne while searching for meteorites in the same place in 2000 July.  The larger stone has a black fusion crust exhibiting flow lines. Classification and mineralogy (D. Hill and A. Patzer, UAz): has an equigranular texture showing numerous triple junctions; enstatite (grain size 0.5–4 mm), 78 vol%, has Fs_0.2Wo_3.0; metal (grain size 0.2–2 mm), 22 vol%, is kamacite with Fe = 90.4 wt%, Ni = 5.77 wt%, Si = 3.13 wt%, in the EH compositional range; troilite is nearly absent; Mg-Mn-Fe sulfides with compositions intermediate between typical E-chondrite niningerite and alabandite, plus unusual Fe-Cr sulfides are heterogeneously distributed in intergranular regions (0.2–1 mm in diameter); bulk Mg/Si = 0.82 mol/mol, in the lower EL range (slightly higher than EH); bulk Fe/Si = 1.13 mol/mol, in the high EH range; no relic chondrules are observed; shock stage, S5, weathering grade W1–2. For further details see Patzer et al. (2001). Specimens: main mass with Labenne; type specimen, 22.17 g, includes two thin sections, UAz.