Nadiabondi meteorite, Matiacoali Department, Gourma Province, Est Region, Burkina Fasoi

Regional Level Types
Nadiabondi meteorite	Meteorite Fall Location
Matiacoali Department	Department
Gourma Province	Province
Est Region	Region
Burkina Faso	Country

Ordinary chondrite, black (H5; S2; W1)
Fell, 27 July 1956; 8.17 kg

A bright bolide, accompanied by thunderous booms and other loud sounds, was seen over a radius of ~30-40 km. Nearly four months later a single 3.665 kg pyramidal stone was recovered from a small fresh crater [25 cm deep]. Over the next few years, a dedicated search recovered numerous very small additional fragments with a comparable total mass. Inspections reveal moderately distinct chondrules and chondrule fragments within a chemically nearly equilibrated, but shock-darkened matrix. Compositionally, the very nearly equilibrated olivine (~Fa18-19) and low Ca-pyroxene (Fs~18) are characteristic of the H-chondrite geochemical group. Mineralogically the meteorite consists primarily of olivine and pyroxene with minor feldspar, troilite, and Fe-Ni metal. Accessory chromite and small amounts of apatite, ilmenite, merrillite and other minor sulfides are found. The presence of free silica (cristobalite, α-quartz) and darkened ('black') silicates appear to be the consequence of pre-terrestrial collisions. [Indeed, the listed level 'S2' shock level in the Meteoritical Bulletin No. 2 and Catalogue of Meteorites (5/e) may be indicative of trapped shock-heat which may have erased some of the customary features normally use as shock gauges for actual higher level shocks. Cf. Michel-Levy (1977).]

The H5 chondrites are the largest subgroup (petrologic type) of the H-group of ordinary chondrites. Nadiabondi's own peculiar history includes a post-formational cooling epoch at ~4.559-4.556 Ga BP plus subsequent collisional events presumably partially encoded in reported 3.75 Ga U,Th-He and 19.6 Ma cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages.

The first recovered, nearly intact Nadiabondi specimen has been stored at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

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References