NWA 6704 meteorite. From ice-rich outer solar system
NWA 6704 meteorite. From ice-rich outer solar system
| Weight | 9,54 grams |
|---|---|
| Found | Sahara, 2011 |
$900
1 in stock
Description
There is no other meteorite that looks — or is chemically similar to NWA 6704. It is ungrouped – it does not fit into a category of previously known meteorites, and there are numerous features unique to it.
Its igneous cumulate texture consists of grains of olivine and chromite enclosed within orthopyroxene which itself is surrounded by grains of albite. It is characterized by a near-chondritic major element composition with a remarkably intact igneous texture. Orthopyroxene megacrysts were originally hollow dendrites that most likely crystallized under high super-saturation and super-cooling conditions (1–10°C/h).
An article in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2019, suggests that a chondritic precursor to NWA 6704 was heated well above its liquidus temperature so that highly volatile elements were lost and the generated melt initially contained few nuclei of relict orthopyroxene, but the melting and subsequent crystallization took place on a timescale too short to allow magmatic differentiation. Such rapid melting and crystallization might occur as a result of impact on an undifferentiated asteroid.
Another article of 2017 of the American Astronomical Society pointed that NWA 6704 could be one of the oldest rocks in the solar system, as multiple distinguished thermal events are dated at ~4.52 Ga and at ~2.67 Ga. They also compared the spectral band parameters of NWA 6704 with V-type asteroids from the literature. Based on this comparison, the best match is an outer main belt V-type asteroid that suffered a catastrophic collision very early on in the Solar System history.
NWA 6704 is so special that in February 2020 a team of scientists concluded in an article published in The Astronomical Journal that NWA 6704 provides insights into the evolution of planetary bodies and possibly in the ice-rich outer solar system.
The total known weight of 8.38 kg has been distributed to museums and private collections over the years.
This specimen weighs 9,54 although some of that weight belongs to the resin used when cutting it. Still that added weight shouldn’t be more than half a gram.
Certificate of authenticity included. IMCA 5591.
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