El Menia        30° 25' 53"N,  2° 49' 25"E

Ghardaia, Algeria

Confirmed fall: 2023

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L5)

History: On Saturday, March 11, 2023, at approximately 10:30 am local time, multiple eyewitnesses from Algeria and Mauritania (Ben Hmida Hakoum, Zegay Yaakoub, Didoua Bachir, Bourzma Lamin, Belakhal Mhani, Hassi Al-Fahal, Hassi Ghanem, Noureddine Bellakehal) reported seeing a bright fireball approaching from a north to south direction at a relatively high velocity and shallow angle of entry. Residents within the city of El Menia reported hearing a sonic boom followed by stones hitting the ground; stones were reportedly recovered as early as ' after the observed fireball (most of these were completely or partially covered in fresh fusion crust, some displaying a bluish color; some stones appear to have "skipped" on the sand after landing). Some of the stones fell in farms and camel pastures nearby to El Menia; the first of these stones was recovered by Elhachemi Houamid, and a later stone recovered by Ahmed Elmniai; other stones were recovered by Noureddine Bellakehal (who had observed the fireball from the garden in his home) and other meteorite hunters within the desert surrounding El Menia. Stones were recovered primarily in the Hassi Walen area SW of El Menia; an estimated strewn field ellipse was bounded between 30°30’01.4" N 02°50’04.4" E and 30°21’57.6" N 2°43’04.5" E, with the ellipse center estimated to be at 30° 25.885’ N 02° 49.42’ E, approximately 5 kilometers from the nearby town of El Nebka. In total, over a hundred individual stones and fragments were recovered (ranging from <1 g to >1 kg in size), with an estimated total known weight of approximately 75 kg. Matthew Stream purchased 8 kg (with the largest piece being a 1.79 kg individual) and provided a 23.4 g type specimen to Cascadia; Ziyao Wang purchased 7.2 kg and provided a 39.4 g type specimen to UWB; Sean Mahoney purchased 5 kg and provided a 21.7 g type specimen to UNM.

Physical characteristics: Hundreds of stones (ranging from sub-g to kg sized); some found as complete individuals with fully or partially covered fusion crust (and some attached sand debris), others found as tiny fragments with exposed interiors. Some stones have a fusion crust that appears slightly bluish in color.

Petrography: (D. Sheikh, Cascadia) Sample is an equilibrated ordinary chondrite comprised of few chondrules, and has a matrix containing secondary recrystallized feldspar (Average grain size ~25 µm) and accessory Fe-Ni metal, troilite, merrillite, and chromite.

Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa_25.3±0.5, range Fa_23.6-26.3, n=50), Low-Ca Pyroxene (Fs_21.3±0.3Wo_1.3±0.2, range Fs_20.2-21.7Wo_0.9-1.7, n=47).

Classification: Ordinary Chondrite (L5).

Specimens: 23.4 g and one polished thin section on deposit at Cascadia, 39.4 g and one polished thin section on deposit at UWB, 21.7 g on deposit at UNM, 30 kg with Noureddine Bellakehal, 12 kg with Polandmet, 8 kg with Matthew Stream (with the largest piece being a 1.79 kg individual) , 7.2 kg with WangZ, 5 kg with Sean Mahoney, 3.2 kg with Karim Djoua, 3 kg with Preston Allen, 2.3 kg with Mohamed Ali Loud.