La’gad        27°25’32.57’’N, 8°44’35.57’’W

Saguia el Hamra, Western Sahara

Find: 2015 Mar 27

Classification: Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia)

History: Found by Mr. Alla about 25 km east of the village of Al-Mahbas, Western Sahara, on March 27, 2015. Purchased by Didi Moulay El Bechir in 2015.

Physical characteristics: Three identically appearing pieces, 137.56, 13.94, and 186.24 g, found together. Irregular exterior, no fusion crust. A saw cut reveals a polymict breccia with numerous fragmental light and dark clasts.

Petrography: (C. Agee, UNM) This feldspathic, polymict breccia has at least two distinct pyroxene populations: 1) ferropigeonite lithology, not in equilibrium with olivine, and 2) a relatively Mg-rich pyroxene lithology showing a Ca-enrichment continuum from low-Ca pyroxene to pigeonite to augite, and in apparent chemical equilibrium with coexisting olivine. Accessory silica, ilmenite, troilite, and iron oxide were observed.

Geochemistry: (C. Agee and N. Muttik, UNM) Ferropigeonite Fs_54.4±4.0Wo_15.4±4.8, Fe/Mn=71±4, n=7; olivine Fa_36.6±2.5, Fe/Mn=100±6, n=22; low-Ca pyroxene/pigeonite Fs_29.5±4.0Wo_12.8±5.8, Fe/Mn=57±4, n=12; augite Fs_27.5±6.3Wo_29.5±5.0, Fe/Mn=53±4, n=3; plagioclase An_96.1±1.6, n=6; Shock melt (10 _m defocused electron beam, proxy for bulk meteorite composition): SiO₂=45.8±1.2, TiO₂=0.63±0.37, Al₂O₃=27.3±4.8, Cr₂O₃=0.12±0.10, MgO=5.1±3.0, FeO=6.0±2.9, MnO=0.07±0.04, CaO=15.4±1.7, NiO=0.05±0.05, Na₂O=0.56±0.11, K₂O=0.14±0.05 (all wt%), n=22.

Classification: Lunar (feldspathic, polymict breccia)

Specimens: 20.2 g including a probe mount on deposit at UNM, Didi Moulay El Bechir holds the main mass.