NWA 12520 — Complete Slice Of Impact Melt Breccia Meteorite

In 2018, Aziz Habibi, a Moroccan-based meteorite broker purchased an interesting meteorite from a Mauritanian meteorite hunter. Habibi sold much of the mass to an Eastern European meteorite dealer who cut the meteorite into slices — including the complete slice now offered. This meteorite evidences largely crystallized LL6 clasts (low iron with metamorphosed chondrules) suspended in a fine grained, glassy, cinnamon-hued matrix. This meteorite is primarily composed of olivine and orthopyroxene.

Fragments of impact melt breccias are cemented together by crystallized impact melt from a massive impact event which generated so much heat that it liquified the target rock which then engulfed the clasts now seen. Grains of metal from one such impactor provide further accenting.

Impact melts most often do not contain clasts and are typically homogenous, hardened slurries. When they contain brecciated fragments they are often visually compelling and NWA 12520 is no exception. The meteorite from which this complete slice is derived is a snapshot of a cataclysmic impact in interplanetary space frozen in time. 

PROVENANCE:

Aziz Habibi Meteorite Collection;

Private European Collection, acquired from the above;

Private American Collection, acquired from the above