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Lewis Cliff 85320
Basic information Name: Lewis Cliff 85320
     This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name.
Abbreviation: LEW 85320
Observed fall: No
Year found: 1985
Country: Antarctica [Collected by US Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET)]
Mass:help 110.2 kg
Classification
  history:
Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter:  AMN 9(3)  (1986)  H5
Meteoritical Bulletin:  MB 76  (1994)  H5
NHM Catalogue:  5th Edition  (2000)  H5
MetBase:  v. 7.1  (2006)  H5
Recommended:  H5    [explanation]

This is 1 of 11487 approved meteorites (plus 22 unapproved names) classified as H5.   [show all]
Search for other: H chondrites, H chondrites (type 4-7), Ordinary chondrites, and Ordinary chondrites (type 4-7)
Comments: Field number: 3164
Writeuphelp
Writeup from AMN 9(3):

Sample No.: LEW85320

Location: Lewis Cliff

Weight (g):  ~110224

Field No.: 3164

Dimensions (cm): 61 x 48 x 27

Meteorite Type: H5 Chondrite

 

Macroscopic Description: Roberta Score

Dull thin black fusion crust with abundant oxidation haloes covers this entire oriented specimen. Shallow regmaglypts are present on each surface except for the bottom. Some regmaglypts contained Antarctic soil. This was collected and given split number 2. LEW85320 is moderately fractured and many of these fractures are lined with crusty and powdery evaporite deposit. Seven hundred milligrams was scraped from the surface and given split number 3. A chip for classification purposes was taken from an inconspicuous area and yielded a highly weathered sample. This most likely is not representative of the weathering or condition of the interior of the entire stone.

 

Thin Section (,4) Description: James L. Gooding and Brian Mason

This section, which represents the outer 1.5 cm of the specimen, displays ordinary chondritic texture with brecciation. The ferromagnesian chondrule population includes all of the common textural types and most chondrules are readily distinguished from the matrix. However, chondrule pyroxenes are not dominantly monoclinic and chondrule mesostases are mostly crypto-crystalline and birefringent. In addition, there were few, if any, signs of primitive rims on chondrules and the chondrite matrix was mostly a translucent to transparent, granular assemblage of olivine and pyroxene.

 

Brecciation in this particular sample is most conspicuously displayed as a light/dark contrast between the outer (toward fusion crust) and inner halves of the section. The dark area appears to be enriched in fine-grained matrix (possibly including an enrichment in sulfides) relative to the light area. Although the section is stained with Fe-oxide weathering products of Antarctic origin, the light/dark contrast is probably a feature of pre-terrestrial origin.

 

A preliminary modal analysis (230 points) of the total section gave 85 vol. % silicates, 11% Ni-Fe metal, and 4% sulfides. Electron microprobe analyses (by B. Mason) showed nearly homogeneous olivine (Fa19) and pyroxene (Fs16). On the basis of texture and composition, the specimen is classified as an H5 chondrite.

Data from:
  MB76
  Table 2
  Line 2893:
Origin or pseudonym:Upper Ice Tongue
Mass (g):110.2 kg
Class:H5
Weathering grade:Be
Fayalite (mol%):19
Ferrosilite (mol%):16
Catalogs:
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References: Published in Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter 9(3) (1986), JSC, Houston
Published in Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 76, Meteoritics 29, 100-143 (1994)
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Photos:
CreditPhotos
Photos from the Encyclopedia of Meteorites:
Svend Buhl   
Geography:

Antarctica
Coordinates:
     Catalogue of Meteorites:   (84° 17'S, 161° 5'E)
     Recommended::   (84° 15' 44"S, 161° 24' 59"E)
Note: the NHM and MetBase coordinates are 4.4 km apart

Statistics:
     This is 1 of 44274 approved meteorites from Antarctica (plus 3802 unapproved names)
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