Catalina 001        25°6.000’S, 69°45.500’W

Antofagasta, Chile

Find: Dec 2009

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L3)

History: E. Christensen and M. Warner found eight similar looking stones within a restricted area on a deflated gravel plain in the Antofagasta region of Chile.

Physical characteristics: The largest stone (842 g) is ~30% fusion crusted and exhibits well-developed regmaglypts. None of the other stones preserve fusion crust. The sawn surfaces of each stone look identical showing a sea of chondrules supported by abundant dark matrix, with only minor patches of iron staining. Magnetic susceptibility varies from log χ (× 10^-9 m³/kg) = 4.78 to 4.82 (n=8).

Petrography: (L. Garvie, ASU) Five thin sections from five stones were examined. The sections are all similar and show an abundance of chondrules and chondrules fragments supported by dark matrix. Sharply defined chondrules from 0.1 to 2 mm, with a few to 6 mm. Matrix contains an abundance of sulfide and metal, which is occasionally concentrated at chondrules rims. In ultrathin sections the matrix is green in plane-polarized light and largely isotropic under crossed polars. Glass is common in chondrules ranging from clear (and isotropic) to partly devitrified.

Geochemistry: (L. Garvie, ASU) Microprobe analyses show olivine and pyroxene of variable compositions. Olivine, Fa_0.92-40.91. Cr₂O₃ in olivine shows a maximum at 0.05 wt%, with a range of values to 0.4 wt%. Pyroxene Fs_2.32-34.29Wo_0.16-16.6. Oxygen isotopes: (R. Tanaka and D. Rumble, OkaU), (mean of two replicates: δ¹⁷O=3.655; δ¹⁸O=5.151; Δ¹⁷O=0.941 per mil).

Classification: The oxygen isotopes are consistent with the L ordinary chondrite group and the probe data with petrologic type 3.4.

Specimens: ASU holds 115.97 g (in six pieces) and five thin sections.