DISCOVERY OF THE TIMERSOI, NIGER, STONY METEORITE

Name: TIMERSOI

Place of fall: Timersoi Valley (a branch of the Azaouak Valley in the Tamesna region of the Niger Republic).

18^° 55'N, 6^° 15'E.

Date of find: 1966

Class and type: Stony. Olivine-hypersthene chondrite.

Number of individual specimens: 1, in 5 pieces

Total weight: 516 g

Circumstances of find: The meteorite was seen in the possession of an inhabitant of a village in the Niger Republic at approximately 7^° 45'E, 18^° 55'N by Mr. C. Hemming, an officer of the United Nations Locust Control Office in 1966. He was told that the meteorite had been seen to fall at approximately 18^° 55'N, 6^° 15'E, was collected there and brought to the village mentioned. He was allowed to detach only a few small fragments from the outer surface: the remainder of the meteorite is still with its finder. Preliminary investigation of the meteorite is being carried out by Dr. J. D. Bell, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Oxford, England, and Dr. D. G. W. Smith, Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.

Source: Dr. J. D. Bell, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Oxford, England.