Brachina meteorite
{{Short description|Meteorite found in Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox meteorite
|Name = Brachina meteorite
|Alternative names =
|Image =
|Image_caption =
|Type = Primitive achondrite
|Class = Asteroidal achondrite
|Group = Brachinite
|Structural_classification =
|Composition = olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, iron-sulfide, chromite, chlorapatite, pentlandite, meteoric iron, melt inclusions
|Shock =
|Weathering =
|Country = Australia
|Region = South Australia
|Lat_Long = {{coord|31.300000|S|138.383333|E|display=inline,title}}
|Observed_fall = No
|Fall_date =
|Found_date = 26 May 1974
|TKW = {{convert|202.85|g}} (2 fragments)
|Image2 =
|Image2_caption =
}}
File:NWA_3151_meteorite,_brachinite.jpg
The Brachina meteorite is the type specimen of the brachinites class of the asteroidal achondrites.
Naming and discovery
The meteorite is named after Brachina in South Australia. Two fragments (total 200 g) were found by B.M. Eves at {{Coord|31.300000|S|138.383333|E|display=inline}} on 26 May 1974.{{cite web|title=Brachina|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Brachinite&sfor=types&ants=&falls=&valids=&stype=exact&lrec=2000&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&rect=&phot=&snew=0&pnt=Normal%20table&code=5127|publisher=Meteoritical Society|access-date=15 December 2012}}
Description
The mineral composition of the Brachina meteorite is olivine (80%), plagioclase (10%), Clinopyroxene (5.5%), iron-sulfide (3%), chromite (0.5%), chlorapatite (0.5%) and pentlandite (0.3%) and traces of meteoric iron. Melt inclusions consist of glass with orthopyroxene and anorthoclase. The chemical and mineralogical composition is similar to the Chassigny meteorite, but the trace elements are fundamentally different.{{cite journal|last=Nehru|first=C. E.|author2=Prinz, M. |author3=Delaney, J. S. |author4=Dreibus, G. |author5=Palme, H. |author6=Spettel, B. |author7= Wänke, H. |title=Brachina: A new type of meteorite, not a chassignite|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research|date=1 January 1983|volume=88|issue=S01|pages=B237|doi=10.1029/JB088iS01p0B237 |bibcode=1983JGR....88..237N}}
Parent body
Melt inclusions indicate that there were melting processes active on the brachinite parent body.
Classification
The meteorite was classified as a chassignite in 1978,{{cite journal|last=Graham|first=A. L.|title=Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 55 |journal=The Meteoritical Bulletin|year=1978|volume=55|pages=331|bibcode=1978Metic..13..327G }} but in 1983 trace element analysis showed that the Brachina meteorite was fundamentally different from Chassigny. It was therefore proposed that the meteorite should be the type specimen of a new meteorite class, the brachinites. This classification has remained valid since then.{{cite book|last=Grady|first=Monica M.|title=Catalogue of meteorites|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521663038|edition=5th ed. rev. and enl.}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Meteorites}}
{{Meteorites by name}}
Category:Achondrite meteorites