NORTHWEST AFRICA 6675


Aubrite (main-group)
54Cr = 0.06 [±0.12]; δ53Cr = 0.24 [±0.03] ‰)
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Found 2010
no coordinates recorded

A single heavily weathered stone weighing 510 g was found in the Sahara and subsequently sold to G. Tomelleri in Erfoud, Morocco in 2010. Analyses were conducted at the Museo di Scienze Planetarie in Italy (Vanni Moggi Cecchi), and NWA 6675 was classified as an enstatite achondrite, or aubrite. Northwest Africa 6675 is a rare unbrecciated (common only to the aubrites Mt. Egerton and Shallowater), cumulate-textured aubrite, formed through igneous processes and fractional crystallization. It is considered likely that this meteorite is part of a large pairing group, additionally comprising the NWA-series numbers 4537, 4799, 4832, 4871, 5217, 5419, 5885, 6193, 6350, and probably the largest and least weathered mass, 7214, all of which together weigh 5,047.6 g.

A large proportion (~40%) of aubrites are witnessed falls, which is thought to reflect the fact that these highly reduced meteorites are particularly susceptible to terrestrial weathering once they arrive on Earth. The surprisingly rapid alteration processes that affect all aubrites in Earth's oxidizing and wet environs is demonstrated visually in the following photos of stones from a common fall. On the left, shown courtesy of Darryl Pitt, is the fresh (W0/1) 2.2 kg NWA 7214 stone that was recovered in 2006, exhibiting a high content of FeNi-metal flakes throughout with virtually no visible oxidation. The two much smaller stones—the 510 g NWA 6675 in the middle and the 50.5 g NWA 6350 stone on the right—had both remained in the terrestrial environment until their recovery in 2010 and have sustained considerable weathering; the 10× larger NWA 6675 stone has experienced significantly less alteration than NWA 6350 probably due to their comparative sizes.

Keil (2010) suggests that the extremely reducing conditions under which aubrites formed is evidence for a location within 1 AU of the Sun, but on a parent body other than any of the known E chondrites or the Shallowater source object. The size of the differentiated aubrite planetesimal(s) is constrained by those processes which caused it to melt. Arguments suggesting that the heat source was the decay of short-lived radionuclides such as 26Al have not been reconciled with the apparent low Al and plagioclase contents in aubrites. In a similar manner, Wasson (2016) presented evidence showing that the slow heating generated entirely by the decay of 26Al is insufficient to melt asteroids, and that an additional heat source would have been required; e.g., the rapid heating incurred from major impact events. He determined that the canonical 26Al/27Al ratio of 0.000052 is much too low to cause any significant melting, and that a minimum ratio of 0.00001 would be required to produce a 20% melt fraction on a well-insulated body having a significant concentration of 26Al. For example, the initial ratio of 0.0000004–0.0000005 calculated for the angrites Sah 99555 and D'Orbigny based on their 26Al–26Mg isochrons is too low to have generated any significant melting without an additional heat source. It has been suggested that relatively small planetesimals such as the aubrite planetesimal(s) might have been just the required size to allow heating by induction in the plasma environment of the T Tauri Sun.

The plot on an oxygen three-isotope diagram calculated for another member of this aubrite pairing group (NWA 4537) lies within the aubrite and E chondrite field near the TFL (Greenwood and Franchi, OU). Current spectral studies link the aubrites to a few near-Earth Apollo asteroids, specifically 3103 Eger and 434 Hungaria (Kelley and Gaffey, 2002). These two high-albedo, iron-free asteroids are composed of an enstatite-like silicate, and are of the appropriate size to make them primary candidates for the aubrite source body. Further evidence has been compiled which is consistent with 3103 Eger being the aubrite source body. For example, the time of day in which aubrites have fallen constrains the orbit to one similar to that of Eger. In addition, the long cosmic-ray exposure age of aubrites is consistent with a stable residence on a near-Earth asteroid that has a long-lived orbit similar to that of Eger. Moreover, the orbital parameters derived for Norton County match those of Eger better than all other orbits. Asteroid 3103 Eger was probably once a member of the Hungaria family of asteroids, located in the innermost asteroid belt at 1.9 AU. It was subsequently ejected into an Earth-crossing orbit. Notably, the asteroid 2867 Steins was recently studied by the Rosetta spacecraft and was found to have an albedo and spectral properties consistent with those of an aubrite (with an abundance of CaS or oldhamite) (Abell et al., 2008); however, the texture and mineralogy of aubrites indicate they derive from a significantly larger parent body.

For additional information on the formation of the aubrite group visit the Mayo Belwa page. Two photos of a 1.95 g partial slice of NWA 6675 are shown above comparing the effects of different angles of incident light.