Antarctic Meteorite Petrographic Description

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Sample Petrographic Description

Sample Number

QUE 94281

Newsletter

18,2

Location

Queen Alexandra Range

Field Number

10972

Dimensions (cm)

4.0 x 3.1 x 1.0

Weight (g)

23.37

Original Classification

Lunar-Basaltic Breccia

Mineral Composition (%Fa & %Fs)

Fayalite (mol%): 33-36;Ferrosilite (mol%): 23-55

Weathering

Fracturing

A/B

Macroscopic Description - Roberta Score, Marilyn Lindstrom

This is a very strange meteorite. It is highly glassy and inhomogeneous. The exterior is black with thick, shiny glass on one side and an irregular, rough surface on the other. The glass is black, conchoidal, vesicular in places, and has melted into many of the abundant cavities. The interior is very inhomogeneous.
This meteorite is wedge-shaped, ranging in thickness from 3 mm to 10 mm. At the thin end, the rough black material has small white flecks in it, while the middle region consists of a chaotic aphanitic material. The thick end is a coarse-grained breccia with abundant angular white, yellow, and black mineral and lithic clasts up to 3 mm across. Two 2 mm-thick glassy, vesicular, black veins cut across the different areas. Oxidation is lightly scattered throughout the meteorite. It will be difficult to do detailed sampling of this complex breccia.

Thin Section Description (,4) - Brian Mason

The section shows a microbreccia of pale brown pyroxene and colorless plagioclase clasts, up to 1.2 mm across, in a comminuted groundmass of these minerals. Colorless fusion crust rims part of the section, which is cut by a 1 mm-wide veinlet of vesicular black glass. Pyroxene compositions show a wide range: Wo₄, Fs₂₃, En₂₅. Plagioclase composition is An₉₁. A little olivine, Fa₃₃, was analyzed, and one grain of silica polymorph, probably tridymite. Fusion crust composition is SiO₂ 47, Al₂O₃ 16, FeO 13, MgO 9.1, CaO 12, K₂O <0.1, TiO₂ 0.6, MnO 0.2, Na₂O 0.5. The black glass has a similar but somewhat variable composition. The high FeO:MnO ratio indicates a lunar origin, and the meteorite has a composition of a basalt-rich breccia. Its composition appears to be intermediate between those of EET87521 (Geochim. Cosmochim Acta, v. 53, p. 3323, 1989) and Calcalong Creek (Nature, v. 352, p.614, 1991) and very similar to that of Y793274 (Proc. NIPR Symp. Antarct. Meteorites, v. 4, p. 3, 1991).

Antarctic Meteorite Images for Sample QUE 94281

Lab Photo(s) :

Bottom View of Splits for Sample QUE 94281

East View of Splits for Sample QUE 94281

Antarctic Meteorite Images for Sample QUE 94281

Thin Section Photo(s) :

Thin Section Photograph of Sample QUE 94281 in Cross-Polarized Light

Thin Section Photograph of Sample QUE 94281 in Plane-Polarized Light

Thin Section Photograph of Sample QUE 94281 in Reflected Light

References for Sample QUE94281

Korotev, R.L., and Zeigler, R.A., 2015, ANSMET Meteorites from the Moon. In Righter, K., Corrigan, C.M., McCoy, T.J., and Harvey, R.P. Meteorites: A Pictorial Guide to the Collection, First Edition , AGU Wiley, , pp. 101-130 .

Herzog, G.F., Caffee, M.W., and Jull, A.J.T., 2015, Cosmogenic Nuclides in Antarctic Meteorites. In Righter, K., Corrigan, C.M., McCoy, T.J., and Harvey, R.P. Meteorites: A Pictorial Guide to the Collection, First Edition , AGU Wiley, , pp. 153-172 .

Grady, M.M., Pratesi G., and Moggi Cecchi, V., 2014, Atlas of Meteorites , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, , 384 p. .

Fritz, J., 2012, Impact ejection of lunar meteorites and the age of Giordano Bruno. , Icarus, 221 Issue 2 , November-December 2012 , 1183-1186 , ISSN 0019-1035 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2012.08.019 .

Rochette, P., Gattacceca, J., Ivanov, A. V., Nazarov, M. A., Bezaeva, N. S., 2010, Magnetic properties of lunar materials: Meteorites, Luna and Apollo returned samples. , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 292 Issues 3-4 , 1-Apr-10 , 383-391 , ISSN 0012-821X , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.02.007 .

Korotev, R. L., Zeigler, R. A., Jolliff, B. L., Irvin, A. J., Bunch, T. E., 2009, Compositional and lithological diversity among brecciated lunar meteorites of intermediate iron concentration. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 44 , 1287-1322 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2009.tb01223.x .

Wolf, S. F., Wang, M. S., Lipschutz, M. E., 2009, Labile trace elements in basaltic achondrites: Can they distinguish between meteorites from the Moon, Mars, and V-type asteroids?. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 44 , 891-903 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2009.tb00776.x .

Eugster, O., Herzog, G. F., Marti, K., Caffee, M.W., 2006, Irradiation Records, Cosmic-Ray Exposure Ages, and Transfer Times of Meteorites. In: Meteorites and the Early Solar System II, D. S. Lauretta and H. Y. McSween Jr. (eds.). , University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 943 , 829-851 .

Korotev R. L., 2005, Lunar geochemistry as told by lunar meteorites. , Chemie der Erde, 65 , 297-346 .

Warren, P. H., 2005, "New" lunar meteorites: Implications for composition of the global lunar surface, lunar crust, and the bulk Moon. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40 , 477-506 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2005.tb00395.x .

Schultz, L., Franke, L., 2004, Helium, neon, and argon in meteorites: A data collection. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 39 , 1889-1890 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2004.tb00083.x .

Korotev, R. L., Jolliff, B. L., Zeigler, R. A., Gillis, J. J., Haskin, L. A., 2003, Feldspathic lunar meteorites and their implications for compositional remote sensing of the lunar surface and the composition of the lunar crust. , Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 67 , 4895-4923 .

Korotev, R. L., Jolliff, B. L., Zeigler, R. A., Haskin, L. A., 2003, Compositional constraints on the launch pairing of three brecciated lunar meteorites of basaltic composition. , Antarctic meteorite research, 16 , 152-175 , http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110000032933/en/ .

Warren, P. H., 2001, Porosities of lunar meteorites: Strength, porosity, and petrologic screening during the meteorite delivery process. , Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 106 , 10101-10111 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2000JE001283 .

Wang, A., Jolliff, B. L., Haskin, L. A., Kuebler, K. E., Viskupic, K. M., 2001, Characterization and comparison of structural and compositional features of planetary quadrilateral pyroxenes by Raman spectroscopy. , American Mineralogist, 86 , 790-806 .

Arai, T., Warren, P. H., 1999, Lunar meteorite Queen Alexandra Range 94281: Glass compositions and other evidence for launch pairing with Yamato 793274. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 34 , 209-234 .

Jolliff, B. L., Korotev, R. L., Rockow, K. M., 1998, Geochemistry and petrology of lunar meteorite Queen Alexandra Range 94281, a mixed mare and highland regolith breccia, with special emphasis on very-low-titanium mafic components. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 33 , 581-601 .

Polnau, E., Eugster, O., 1998, Cosmic-ray produced, radiogenic, and solar noble gases in lunar meteorites Queen Alexandra Range 94269 and 94281. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 33 , 313-319 .

Benoit, P. H., Sears, D. W. G., Symes, J. K., 1996, The thermal and radiation exposure history of lunar meteorites. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 31 , 869-875 .

Palme, H., Spettel, B., Jochum, K. P., Dreibus, G., Weber, H., Weckwerth, G., Wanke, H., Bischoff, A., Stöffler, D., 1991, Lunar highland meteorites and the composition of the lunar crust. , Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 55 Issue 11 , Nov-91 , 3105-3122 , ISSN 0016-7037 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(91)90476-L .

Antarctic Meteorite Petrographic Description

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