Petrography and geochemistry of lunar meteorites Dhofar 1673, 1983, and 1984. (23rd October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hill, Patrick J. A.; Osinski, Gordon R.; Banerjee, Neil R.; Korotev, Randy L.; Nasir, Sobhi J.; Herd, Christopher D. K.
• Is Part Of: Meteoritics & planetary science. Volume 54:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 300
• Page End: 320
• Publication Date: 2018-10-23
• Subjects: Meteorites -- Periodicals; Planetology -- Periodicals; 523.4
• DOI: 10.1111/maps.13207
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1086-9379

Abstract

Abstract: The Dhofar 1673, Dhofar 1983, and Dhofar 1984 meteorites are three lunar regolith breccias classified based on their petrography, mineralogy, oxygen isotopes, and bulk chemistry. All three meteorites are dominated by feldspathic lithic clasts; however, impact melt rock clasts and spherules are also found in each meteorite. The bulk chemistry of these samples is similar to other feldspathic highland meteorites with the Al2 O3 content only slightly lower than average. Within the lithic clasts, the Mg # of mafic phases versus the anorthite content of feldspars is similar to other highland meteorites and is found to plot intermediate of the ferroan‐anorthositic suite and magnesian suite. The samples lack any KREEPy signature and have only minor indications of a mare basalt component, suggesting that the source region of all three meteorites would have been distal from the Procellarum KREEP Terrane and could have possibly been the Feldspathic Highland Terrane. All three meteorites were found within 500 m of each other in the Dhofar region of Oman. This, together with their similar petrography, stable isotope chemistry, and geochemistry indicates the possibility of a pairing.