Petrology, geochemistry, and age of low-Ti mare-basalt meteorite Northeast Africa 003-A: A possible member of the Apollo 15 mare basaltic suite
2009
Abstract
Northeast Africa 003 (NEA 003) is a lunar meteorite found as a two paired stones (6 and 118 g) in Libya, 2000 and 2001. The Fe/Mn values of the whole rock, olivines and pyroxenes, and the bulk-rock oxygen isotopic composition provide evidence for the lunar origin of NEA 003-A meteorite.
NEA 003-A is geochemically and petrographically distinct from previously described mare-basalt meteorites and is not paired with any of them.The NEA 003-A meteorite shows obvious geochemical similarities in trace elements contents with Apollo 15 olivine-normative basalts and could represent a yet unknown geochemically primitive member of the olivine-normative basalt series.