Classification : Martian meteorite (Nakhlite)
The Hassi Messaoud 001 meteorite was found on March 11, 2020, near the Algerian town of El Borma, and was purchased the following year from a seller whose identity has not been disclosed. Weighing a total of 75 grams, it consists of four gray-brown specimens, some of which still have areas covered by a slightly weathered fusion crust.
From a mineralogical perspective, the meteorite is characterized by a texture known as cumulate (with an average mineral grain size of approximately 1 mm), and it has been classified within the relatively rare group of naklites. On average, it consists of 75% prismatic crystals of zoned clinopyroxenes (augite), 5% olivine, and 15% plagioclases shocked into maskelynite. Accessory minerals include oxides (titanomagnetite), phosphates (fluoroapatite), and fusion glass.
The level of impact the rock underwent during its ejection from the Martian surface appears to be fairly low, despite the amorphization of the plagioclases into maskelynite.
The meteorite’s Martian origin has been confirmed by oxygen isotope analysis and/or by the iron-to-manganese (Fe/Mn) ratio of the olivines and pyroxenes.
The age of the rock, as well as its exposure age, were unknown at the time this entry was written. As with other nakhlites, the Hassi Messaoud 001 meteorite is expected to be a respectable 1.3 billion years old.
