Lea County 002 meteorite, Jal, Lea County, New Mexico, USAi

Regional Level Types
Lea County 002 meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
Jal	City
Lea County	County
New Mexico	State
USA	Country

K Chondrite (K3)
Find, 1988; 11 g, weathered.

A single mass, collected as 2 fragments, was found S of Jal on a deflation surface stripped by decades or centuries of dry winds. The meteorite was soon recognized as quite similar to the then unique Kakangari chondrite which had fallen in India in 1890. Their most prominent features are a very reduced matrix accompanied by a similarly reduced population of pyroxene and olivine chondrules. The Lea County 002 chondrules (ave size > 1mm) constitute just over 40% of the meteorite's volume. Matrix accompanying the chondrules is dominated by similar reduced variable and normally forsteritic olivine with Ca-,Fe-poor pyroxene. However, while much of the olivine is quite reduced, zoned and somewhat iron-enriched olivine crystals are found as well. Minor amounts of albitic plagioclase and chromite are present. Metal and sulfides have been frequently weathered away, but kamacite and troilite are also still present. Small and very small enstatite-clinoenstatite intergrowths, moderately anorthic glass, and spinel-pyroxene rich inclusions bespeak a small but cognizable high temperature component sometimes found in unequilibrated type 3 chondrites.

In 1987 a similar very reduced chondritic meteorite was found in Antarctica and by 1996 a three member K chondrite (Kakangari-like) subgroup had been defined (Weisberg et al., 1996). A fourth K chondrite, NWA 10085 was recovered in 2014. All 4 meteorites are characterized by their very reduced mineralogy (e.g., prominent forsterite and enstatite) and very similar oxygen isotope ratios. Among chondrites only enstatite chondrites are more reduced. Grady et al. (2015) have questioned whether Lea County 002 is a genuine member of the grouplet. Textural differences include the significantly larger abundances and sizes of Lea County 002 chondrules. However, the sampling problems associated with an unequilibrated meteorite, the very small number of K chondrites, their very small sizes, and the additional complications of weathering would seemingly preclude any immediate conclusions about exact membership boundaries for this interesting grouplet.

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References