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Tamdakht
Basic information Name: Tamdakht
     This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name.
Abbreviation: There is no official abbreviation for this meteorite.
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 2008
Country: Morocco
Mass:help 100 kg
Classification
  history:
Meteoritical Bulletin:  MB 95  (2009)  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: Approved 26 Feb 2009
Writeuphelp
Writeup from MB 95:

Tamdakht      31°09.8′N, 7°00.9′W

Tamdakht, (Ouarzazate) Morocco

Fall: 20 December 2008, 22:37 hrs (local time; UT+00)

Ordinary chondrite (H5)

History (H. Chennaoui-Aoudjehane): On December 20, 2008, witnesses from a number of locations in Morocco (Agadir, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate) observed a meteor with a W to E trajectory. According to the local newspaper, Al Massae (of December 27th), people from the high Atlas Mountains (between Marrakesh and Ouazazate) heard a sound and felt an aftershock. Due to the high relief in this mountain region, covered with snow at this time of the year, searching for the meteorite was a difficult task. The first reports on finding pieces of a meteorite came a couple of weeks later. The largest impact pit is located near Oued Aachir (1.10 m diameter and 70 cm depth, 31°09.8′N, 7°00.9′W), with a stone exceeding 30 kg and many small fragments. A second one is smaller, (about 20 cm diameter and 10 cm depth; 31°09.9′N 07°02.3′W) located 2 km W from the first one; the main mass from the second impact was probably about 500 g. Nine new impacts coordinates have been reported by S. Buhl and M. Aid, and P. Thomas reported 3 other impacts. A strewn field of at least 25 km long and 2 km wide has been outlined.

Physical characteristics: Total weight is presently estimated to be 100 kg. Pieces recovered as of February 15, 2009, are 30 kg, 1.5 kg, 3.8 kg, 3.69 kg, 2.4 kg, 1.5 kg, 1 kg, 800 g, and 399 g. One major fragment of 1.7 kg and many small pieces from the same stone (ranging 500 to below 1 g) were also recovered. The largest fragment shows a nearly complete dull gray fusion crust, other pieces are 90% crusted to free of crust, often broken along preexisting fractures. Thick fusion crust, locally more than 1 mm.

Petrography (Albert Jambon, Omar Boudouma, D. Badia UPVI and M. Denise, MNHNP): Abundant chondrules with visible but not well-delimited outlines. Chondrule size is 0.1 to 1.5 mm. Dominant olivine and orthopyroxene. Abundant chromite, rare clinopyroxene and ilmenite. Numerous pockets with chromite, plagioclase and phosphate (merrilite and Cl-apatite). Kamacite, with deformed Neumann bands, and taenite, twinned troilite. Copper. Mode: metal+troilite 10%.

Mineral compositions and geochemistry: log χ = 5.3. Olivine Fa18 ± 0.5 Opx = En83 Fs16 Wo2 Minor calcic pyroxene. Plagioclase is Ab83–86 An5–15 Or7–2. Ca-phosphate (merrillite and Cl-apatite). Chromite: Cr# (100× molar Cr/[Cr + Al]) = 82. Metal: kamacite with 5% Ni and taenite with 36–47% Ni. Oxygen isotopes (C. Suavet, J. Gattacecca CEREGE): δ17O = 3.26‰, δ18O = 5.01‰, and Δ17O = 0.65‰. Magnetic susceptibility is log χ = 5.3 × 10–9 m3/kg.

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5), S3, W0.

Type specimens: A mass of 21 g and one polished section provided by P. Thomas are on deposit at UPVI. 1 piece of 15.8 g provided by L. Labenne and small fragments totaling 20 g at UHAC. Two pieces 10.4 g and 8.6 g at NMBE (B. Hoffman), Svend Buhl 2 kg; Meteoritica (PThomas) 2.65 kg; M. Zeroual 20 kg, main mass anonymous finder.

Data from:
  MB95
  Table 1
  Line 3:
State/Prov/County:Tamdakht, (Ouarzazate)
Date:20-Dec-08
Latitude:31°09.8'N
Longitude:7°00.9'W
Mass (g):~100000
Pieces:Many
Class:H5
Shock stage:S3
Weathering grade:W0
Fayalite (mol%):18±0.5
Ferrosilite (mol%):16
Wollastonite (mol%):2
Magnetic suscept.:5.3
Classifier:
Type spec mass (g):21
Type spec location:UPVI
Main mass:anonymous finder
Plots: O isotopes:  
Institutions
   and collections
NMBE: Natural History Museum Bern Bernastrasse 15 CH-3005 Bern Switzerland, Switzerland; Website (institutional address; updated 2 Mar 2012)
CEREGE: CEREGE BP 80 Avenue Philibert, Technopole de l'Arbois 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4 France, France (institutional address; updated 10 Jun 2023)
MNHNP: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, IMPMC-CP52, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France, France; Website (institutional address)
UPVI: Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI),Case 110, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France (institutional address; updated 5 Oct 2014)
Labenne: 23, rue de Esperance, 75013 Paris, France; Website (private address; updated 29 Aug 2012)
PThomas: Philippe Thomas, Meteoritica, La Chave, 07690 St André en Vivarais, France (private address)
UHAC: Universite Hassan II Casablanca, Faculte des Sciences Ain Chock, Departement de Géologie, BP 5366 Maârif, Casablanca, Morocco (institutional address; updated 9 Jan 2013)
Catalogs:
References: Published in Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 95, MAPS 44, 429-462 (2009)
Find references in NASA ADS:
Find references in Google Scholar:
Photos:
CreditPhotos
Photos uploaded by members of the Encyclopedia of Meteorites.
    (Caution, these are of unknown reliability)
ale bartolommei-giulio M.   
Allmeteorite.com            
chen wang   
Dave Gheesling   
David L. Ribeca      
DCOM   
Denis gourgues   
Don Cuarzo   
Jim K   
John Tanner   
José Carlos de Medeiros Júnior   
MeteoriteCollector.org - FCOM - Russ Finney            
METEORITICON         
Michael S. Scherman   
Philippe Thomas   
Robert Smart   
Ryan Upchurch   
Space Jewels   
Svend Buhl      
Wandering Star   
Wojciech Moscinski   
Woreczko Jan & Wadi               
Ziyao Wang      
Geography:

Morocco
Coordinates:
     Recommended::   (31° 9' 48"N, 7° 0' 54"W)

Statistics:
     This is 1 of 73 approved meteorites from Souss-Massa-Draâ, Morocco (plus 4 unapproved names)
     This is 1 of 2049 approved meteorites from Morocco (plus 31 unapproved names) (plus 1 impact crater)
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