I attended the Gem and Fossil show being held in Costa Mesa, California on May 20, 2000. There were a number of new meteorites found in Oman being sold, including some of the rarer types such as LL6, eucrites and howardites. One of the meteorite dealers selling the Oman meteorites informed me that one of the Oman meteorites, named Dhofar 019, was a new Mars meteorite. He provided the following information (see below) which is being submitted to the Meteoritical Society. The Dhofar 019 meteorite was not at the Costa Mesa show, but I understand about 800 grams of it will be on the market soon. Assuming the four Dar al Gani Mars meteorites are paired together, the number of Mars meteorites now increases to 15.
Ron Baalke
Dhofar 019
Oman
Found 2000 January 24
Martian basalt (shergottite)
A brownish gray stone weighing 1056 grams was found in Dhofar region, Oman. Mineralogy and classification (M. Nazarov and M. Ivanova of Vernadsky Institute, and L.A. Taylor of University of Tennessee): fusion crust absent; meteorite is a doleritic rock consisting of subhedral grains (0.2 - 0.5 mm) of pigeonite (Wo[9-15] En[40-70], Fe/Mn = 20-40 at.), augite (Wo[30-40] En[40-55]), olivine (Fo[25-60], Fe/Mn = 50-60 at.), and feldspar (An[36-68]) converted to maskelynite; olivine has higher Fe/Mg than that of coexisting pyroxenes, as it is in nakhlites; mineralogical modes are approx. 65% pyroxene, 25% maskelynite, and 10% olivine; accessories are silca, K-rich feldspar, whitlockite, chlorapatite, chromite, ilemnite, titanomagnetite, magnetite, and pyrrhotite; secondary phases are calcite, gypsum, smectite, celestite, and Fe hydroxides; shock features include fracturing and mosaicism, maskelynite, and rare impact melt pockets; extensive terrestrial weathering present mainly as carbonate veins crosscutting the meteorite; however there are smectite-calcite-gypsum "orangettes" replacing maskelynite, which are similar to those in ALH84001 and could be of martian origin; in bulk chemistry the meteorite is close to Shergotty; light rare earth elements are strongly depleted. Specimens: type specimens of 113 grams, 4 grams, and 2 grams, and two thin sections, Vernadsky Institute; main mass'with anonymous finder.
Return to the Mars Meteorite Home Page