Northwest Africa 14264 (NWA 14264)

(Northwest Africa)

Purchased: Feb. 2010

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L6)

History: Sent to Cascadia by John Shea (ebay username bigjohnshea). Shea purchased on April 29, 2013, from Matt Morgan (Mile High Meteorites, mhmeteorites). Morgan purchased sample at Tucson Gem Show in February 2010 from Haddny Said. On January 19, 2021, Martin Goff emailed Cascadia that he’d "recently acquired a box of NWA Chondrites that came from US collector john/Johannes Shea", including CML 0755.

Physical characteristics: Physical Characteristics: Surface of stone is dark brown and glossy on one side and reddish-orange on other sides. Cut faces are medium brown with indistinct light colored chondrules or clasts visible in hand specimen. A couple of fractures cut across the piece sent to CML, and appear black grading to orange-brown.

Petrography: (M. Hutson, A. Ruzicka, Cascadia): The meteorite is well integrated in thin section, with few readily distinguished chondrules present. A round dark-colored inclusion or chondrule made of chromian spinel and plagioclase feldspar stands out from the rest of the section. An opaque vein cuts across the section; wadsleyite grains were identified in the vein by their greenish-blue color. BSE imaging and EDS data confirms the presence of wadsleyite in the vein, along with idiomorphic zoned grains of majorite. Throughout the host meteorite, BSE images show relict plagioclase feldspar grains identified by fractures inside smooth maskelynite regions.

Geochemistry: Olivine: Fa_24.9±0.6, N=21; Low-Ca pyroxene: Fs_21.0±0.6Wo_1.6±0.2., N=17. Spinel-rich object: Plagioclase feldspar: Ab_74.2±3.3Or_5.2±0.7, N=3; chromian spinel: Mg# = 23.8 ± 0.0 Cr# = 79.2 ± 1.1, N=3.

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L6) based on mineral chemistry and texture

Specimens: Cascadia holds 139.3 g in two pieces, as well as a polished thin section and material in an epoxy butt; MGoff holds the main mass.