Acfer 094 meteorite, Foggaret Ezzaouia, In Salah District, In Salah Province, Algeria (original) (raw)

Acfer 094 meteorite, Foggaret Ezzaouia, In Salah District, In Salah Province, Algeriai

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):

27° 43' 59'' North , 4° 25' 59'' East

Latitude & Longitude (decimal):

Meteoritical Society Class:

Mindat Locality ID:

253927

Long-form identifier:

mindat:1:2:253927:3

8b367d5d-ceb8-4f49-94e1-675e4d506098

Primitive Ungrouped Carbonaceous Chondrite [C2-ung]
Clasts, Chondrules, CAIs, presolar diamonds & SiC

In Meteoritical Bulletin #71 (1991) a short entry on a very long list records a single 82 gram carbonaceous stone of uncertain classification. Well over 90% of Acfer 094 consists of a roughly half-half mixture of matrix and chondrules. The meteorite's mineralogy most closely resembles the mineralogy of CM chondrites, but its oxygen isotopes most closely resemble the CO class. Like many Carbonaceous Chondrites, its chondrules and clasts are rich in Olivine and Pyroxene. Also, like many classes of Carbonaceous Chondrites, it contains a small complement of refractory inclusions [2-4 vol%?]. It is, to be sure, relatively poor in the hydrated phyllosilicates found in many Carbonaceous Chondrites. Whether and the extent to which these phases are preterrestrial or consequences of desert weathering is currently an open question. What is most unusual about Acfer 094, however, is its generous complement of presolar silicon carbide, diamonds, and other phases. We are, of course, speaking relatively. Only a very tiny fraction of the Corundum, Diamond, Spinel and other small grains are presolar. For a meteorite, however, Acfer 094 is “nanodiamond rich.”

Acfer 094 also appears to be one of the very oldest meteorites in our collections. Studies of Acfer 094 have covered the meteorite’s overall mineralogy, its refractory inclusions, and its presolar constituents. It might be said, however, that the smaller the grain, phase or aggregate — the greater the attention.

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Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz

Chemical Elements

Mineral List

24 valid minerals.

Meteorite/Rock Types Recorded

Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!

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Alphabetical List Tree Diagram

Entries shown in red are rocks recorded for this region.

• Meteorite and other extra-terrestrial rock and sediment
  • Meteorite
    * Chondrite meteorite
    * Carbonaceous chondrite meteorite
    * C chondrite meteorite

Detailed Mineral List:

Gallery:

List of minerals for each chemical element

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

References

Newton, J., Bischoff, A., Arden, J. W., Franchi, I. A., Geiger, T., Greshake, A. & Pillinger, C. T. (1995). Acfer 094, a uniquely primitive carbonaceous chondrite from the Sahara. Meteoritics 30 (1), 47-56. (Jan 1995).

Gao, X., Amari, S., Messenger, S., Nittler, L.R., Swan, P.D., Walker, R.M. (1996) Survey of circumstellar grains in the unique circumstellar carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094. Meteoritics & Planetary Science: 31(S4): A48 (July 1996).

Krot, A. N., Fagan, T. J., Keil, K., McKeegan, K. D., Sahijpal, S., Hutcheon, I. D., Petaev, M. I. & Yurimoto, H. (2004). Ca,Al-rich inclusions, amoeboid olivine aggregates, and Al-rich chondrules from the unique carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094: I. mineralogy and petrology. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 68 (9), 2167-2184. (May 2004).

Zolensky, M.E., Ohsumi, K., Mikouchi, T., Hagiya, K., Le, L. (2008) Crystallinity of Fe-Ni Sulfides in Carbonaceous Chondrites. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIX, LPI Contribution No. 1391: 1676 (March 2008).

Seto, Y., Sakamoto, N., Fujino, K., Kaito, T., Oikawa, T. & Yurimoto, H. (2008). Mineralogical characterization of a unique material having heavy oxygen isotope anomaly in matrix of the primitive carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72 (11), 2723-2734. (June 2008).