UNUSUAL STONE METEORITE RECOVERED IN THE SAHARA. BY BERBERS. ...

Description

UNUSUAL STONE METEORITE RECOVERED IN THE SAHARA
BY BERBERS
Chondrite
The Sahara Desert, near the Moroccan/Algerian Border
Meteorites from the Sahara were a great rarity prior to the late 1990's. No more. The single biggest catalyst to an explosion in meteorite recovery occurred in 1995 as a result of the collections of meteorites provided by the Macovich Collection in the first natural history auctions. The extensive international media coverage of the meteorite section of these first auctions sparked the public's interest in meteorites to previously unheard of proportions. Said natural history expert Henry Galiano, "News of the prices attained by meteorites at auctions in the mid-nineties made its way across the ocean and motivated legions of new meteorite hunters, primarily from Germany and France, to explore the Sahara in search of more material." These hunters enlisted the local Berber and Bedouin communities to search on their behalf. Thousands of stone meteorites were recovered in the past decade including dozens of planetary examples, e.g., meteorites from the Moon and Mars-a major boom to science. The fascinating, surprisingly dense example offered here is shaped like an anthropoidal coffin. Two prominent faces are covered in fusion crust (the result of meteorite's blazing descent through the atmosphere) while two other faces are fractured and provide a peek at the meteorite's interior. A galaxy of chondrules (small masses of silicate which are diagnostic in the identification of stone meteorites) are seen on the surface of the matrix and are presumably embedded throughout. A large amount of free metal is also seen, which is what provides the density of this specimen, and this meteorite is ferromagnetic (it's attracted to a magnet) like most common chondrites. This unusually angular stone meteorite (see Arrolyo Malo to compare the shape with that of a more typical example) also features a thin vein of impact melt cutting across the meteorite's surface. With a sublime, naturally sandblasted patina, this specimen has never been-and should not-be subdivided for further analysis given its unusual form. Every indication is that it's a typical stone meteorite which just happens to be most uncommonly shaped. 82 x 47 x 40 mm (3.25 x 2 x 1.5 inches) and 263 grams (1/2 pound).

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