The Iftiyssane meteorite, found in 2021 in Morocco, is an L6-melt breccia chondrite with a violent past. Read more.
The Iftiyssane meteorite, found in 2021 in Morocco, is an L6-melt breccia chondrite with a violent past.
The Iftiyssane meteorite, found in 2021 in Morocco, is an L6-melt breccia chondrite with a violent past.
The Iftiyssane meteorite, found in 2021 in Morocco, is an L6-melt breccia chondrite with a violent past.
Location of the meteorite
The Iftiyssane meteorite is an officially recognised meteorite, found in 2021 in Morocco in the Centre-South region, near the municipality of Midelt, known as Ait Ayach. The meteorite has a total mass of 12 kilograms, divided into 12 pieces ranging in weight from 273 to 1250 grams.
Cosmic collisions
The pieces are egg-shaped and orange and black on the outside. The different colours represent the structure. Orange are the chondritic parts and the black is molten matter from previous cosmic collisions. In the slices, it is easy to see how the black molten portions run through the original chondrite texture. The chondrite section contains clearly visible grains of metal.
Research on the meteorite
The meteorite was examined at Appalachian State University. It is an L6-melt breccia, meaning it is an ordinary chondrite with a breccia created by thermal events and violent collisions. The breccia is a mix consisting of broken fragments of rocks that have melted together in the matrix. Also found in the meteorite are the following minerals: apatite, albitic plagioclase, chromite, kamacite, taenite and troilite.
