On March 11, 2023, farmers and camel herders in a remote area of Algeria saw a bright fireball streak across the sky at a shallow angle of entry. Sonic booms were heard in the area and searchers soon found meteorites from the fall. According to reports from the strewnfield, some of the stones had left marks like they had skipped across the sandy desert pavement.
Later analysis revealed the stones to be a moderately-shocked L5 chondrite. Cut surfaces show chondrules, metal, and occasional small clasts. The specimens being offered here are fresh and were recovered shortly after the fall.
Refer to the photo. The black centimeter cube is shown for scale and is not included. You are purchasing a single small fragment similar to the one shown. Your purchase will include a labeled gemjar for safe storage.
From the Meteoritical Bulletin entry on El Menia :
El Menia 30° 25' 53"N, 2° 49' 25"E
Ghardaia, Algeria
Confirmed fall: 2023
Classification: Ordinary chondrite (L5)
History: On Saturday, March 11, 2023, at approximately 10:30 am local time, multiple eyewitnesses from Algeria and Mauritania (Ben Hmida Hakoum, Zegay Yaakoub, Didoua Bachir, Bourzma Lamin, Belakhal Mhani, Hassi Al-Fahal, Hassi Ghanem, Noureddine Bellakehal) reported seeing a bright fireball approaching from a north to south direction at a relatively high velocity and shallow angle of entry. Residents within the city of El Menia reported hearing a sonic boom followed by stones hitting the ground; stones were reportedly recovered as early as ' after the observed fireball (most of these were completely or partially covered in fresh fusion crust, some displaying a bluish color; some stones appear to have "skipped" on the sand after landing). Some of the stones fell in farms and camel pastures nearby to El Menia; the first of these stones was recovered by Elhachemi Houamid, and a later stone recovered by Ahmed Elmniai; other stones were recovered by Noureddine Bellakehal (who had observed the fireball from the garden in his home) and other meteorite hunters within the desert surrounding El Menia. Stones were recovered primarily in the Hassi Walen area SW of El Menia; an estimated strewn field ellipse was bounded between 30°30’01.4" N 02°50’04.4" E and 30°21’57.6" N 2°43’04.5" E, with the ellipse center estimated to be at 30° 25.885’ N 02° 49.42’ E, approximately 5 kilometers from the nearby town of El Nebka. In total, over a hundred individual stones and fragments were recovered (ranging from <1 g to >1 kg in size), with an estimated total known weight of approximately 75 kg. Matthew Stream purchased 8 kg (with the largest piece being a 1.79 kg individual) and provided a 23.4 g type specimen to Cascadia; Ziyao Wang purchased 7.2 kg and provided a 39.4 g type specimen to UWB; Sean Mahoney purchased 5 kg and provided a 21.7 g type specimen to UNM.
Physical characteristics: Hundreds of stones (ranging from sub-g to kg sized); some found as complete individuals with fully or partially covered fusion crust (and some attached sand debris), others found as tiny fragments with exposed interiors. Some stones have a fusion crust that appears slightly bluish in color.
Petrography: (D. Sheikh, Cascadia) Sample is an equilibrated ordinary chondrite comprised of few chondrules, and has a matrix containing secondary recrystallized feldspar (Average grain size ~25 µm) and accessory Fe-Ni metal, troilite, merrillite, and chromite.
Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa25.3±0.5, range Fa23.6-26.3, n=50), Low-Ca Pyroxene (Fs21.3±0.3Wo1.3±0.2, range Fs20.2-21.7Wo0.9-1.7, n=47).
Classification: Ordinary Chondrite (L5).
