Wandering Star Meteorites
Bensour Meteorites - Under construction, please check back soon.
Name: Bensour
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 2002
Country: Morocco
Mass: 45 kg
Eyewitness accounts from several nomads in the border region of Morocco and Algeria attest to a significant fall of many individual stones on February 11, 2002. However these reports are not detailed. Total weight is estimated to be in excess of 45 kg. Individual stones (up to 9.2 kg) are very pale grey with a glistening black fusion crust.
Classification and mineralogy (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS):
Very fine grained monomict breccia composed of olivine (Fa31.6, FeO/MnO = 60.0), orthopyroxene (Wo3.5Fs24.3, FeO/MnO = 36.6), clinopyroxene, and sodic plagioclase with subordinate Ni-rich Fe-Ni metal, troilite and chromite. Sparse chondrules are present. Oxygen isotopes (D. Rumble, CIW): analyses of two whole rock fragments by laser fluorination gave d18O = +5.3 ± 0.1, d17O = +4.0 ± 0.1, ?17O = +1.20 ± 0.01‰.
Observed fall: Yes
Year fell: 2002
Country: Morocco
Mass: 45 kg
Eyewitness accounts from several nomads in the border region of Morocco and Algeria attest to a significant fall of many individual stones on February 11, 2002. However these reports are not detailed. Total weight is estimated to be in excess of 45 kg. Individual stones (up to 9.2 kg) are very pale grey with a glistening black fusion crust.
Classification and mineralogy (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS):
Very fine grained monomict breccia composed of olivine (Fa31.6, FeO/MnO = 60.0), orthopyroxene (Wo3.5Fs24.3, FeO/MnO = 36.6), clinopyroxene, and sodic plagioclase with subordinate Ni-rich Fe-Ni metal, troilite and chromite. Sparse chondrules are present. Oxygen isotopes (D. Rumble, CIW): analyses of two whole rock fragments by laser fluorination gave d18O = +5.3 ± 0.1, d17O = +4.0 ± 0.1, ?17O = +1.20 ± 0.01‰.
Several samples of this outstanding meteorite are available for sale.
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