Northwest Africa 1465

Western Sahara

Found 2001

Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3 anomalous)

Many pieces totalling 3000 g and mostly covered with fusion crust were found  in 2001 by an anonymous finder in the Western Saharan desert.  Classification and mineralogy (A. Greshake, MNB and M. Kurz, Kurz): a type 3 carbonaceous chondrite with chondrules, mineral fragments, and refractory objects in a compact anhydrous matrix of Fe-rich olivine  (Fa_43-57.6), Ca-rich pyroxene, enstatite, forsterite, troilite, magnetite,  FeNi-metal, and weathering products; olivine, Fa_5.5 (range Fa_0.4-41.9);  pyroxene, Fs_2.8 (range Fs_0.8-5.5); shows a strong foliation defined by  flattened chondrules and refractory objects; the sample contains cm-sized Ca,Al-rich inclusions and large inclusions of dark material (Greshake et al., 2003); oxygen isotope  composition of the bulk meteorite (R. Clayton and T. Mayeda, UChi): δ¹⁸O =  4.89‰, δ¹⁷O = 0.71‰; oxygen isotope composition of dark material,  δ¹⁸O = 13.08‰, δ¹⁷O = 5.83‰., is not in equilibrium with the host  meteorite. Shock stage, S4; degree of weathering, W3. Specimens: type specimen, 21.8 g, and one polished thin section, MNB; main mass with  anonymous finder.