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April 2008
Now Meteorites! Click Here

September 18, 2007
New additions!
New minerals added. See our Minerals section clicking here »

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Lunar meteorites

Twelve meteorites from the Moon have been found to this day. All except one, Calcalong Creek (Australia), were recovered in Antarctica. All lunar meteorites are impact breccias, rocks formed from the rewelding during energetic impact events of loose fragments once part of the lunar soil. Some lunar meteorites are dominantly basaltic in composition and thus come from the lunar mare (the dark, concealed flood lavas that occupy large impact basins on the Moon, especially on its near side); others are composed dominantly of the mineral anorthosite, a sodium-rich plagioclase, suggesting these meteorites come from the lunar highlands (the brighter and more heavily cratered terrains on the Moon). Lunar meteorites are of great scientific importance because they come from areas of the Moon that were likely not sampled by the Apollo or Luna missions. On statistical grounds, it is estimated that at least one of the lunar meteorites found so far must have originated on the far side of the Moon. Lunar meteorites are believed to have been blasted off the Moon in the form of high-speed ejecta during impact events.
Lunar meteorites may be identified by a fusion crust with slightly greenish hues and by a grayish interior with angular clasts (inclusions) of often brighter materials. 

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