FALL OF THE KIFFA, MAURITANIA, STONY METEORITE

Name: KIFFA

Place of fall: 8 km southwest of Kiffa, Mauritania.

16^° 35'N, 11^° 20'W.

Date of fall: October 23, 1970, 1455 GMT.

Class and type: Stony. Olivine-bronzite chondrite.

Number of individual specimens: 1, fragmented

Total weight: Less than 2 kg

Circumstances of fall: Loud explosions and a white cloud in the sky accompanied the fall of the meteorite. It made a hole less tha 20 cm in fine sand. Plants near and in the hole were not scorched. Many pieces weighing less than a total of 1.5 kg were recovered. The meteorite was discovered by a child at 10:00 a.m. local time (also GMT) on October 24, 1970. Shortly afterward the Prefect of Kiffa investigated the impact area and took possession of the meteorite. On October 31, 1970, the Director of Mines, Ishaq Ould Ragel, accompanied by the Director of the Geological Service, M. Henri Gruenwald, and another geologist carried out an on-the-spot investigation. Most of the recovered meteorite material is being held by M. Gruenwald.

Sources: Report received from M. Henri Gruenwald Chef de Service Geologue, Direction des Mines et la Geologue, Ministere de 1'Industrialisation et des Mines, Nouakchott, Mauritania. Information circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Center for Short-Lived Phenomena, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Event number 7-71, circulated on cards number 1092 of January 18, 1971 and 1114 of February 4, 1971).