New England Meteoritical Services
  
     
 
Meteorite Thin Sections
  
   Reference and Listing of Available Thin Sections page.  
     
   
     
 
Richfield, Kansas, LL3 in thin-section.
Transmitted light, crossed polarizers.
  

     
     
 
Inside each meteorite is a wealth of data. Turning that data into knowledge begins with thin-sections.

Meteorite thin-sections are carefully prepared glass slides suitable for mineralogical and petrology studies when viewed through a microscope. Simply stated, they are thin slices of meteorites that have been carefully ground down and polished so thinly that light can pass through the meteorite's crystalline structures.

In transmitted light, thin sections reveal the texture and crystal shape of minerals and other identifying meteoritical characteristics while through polarized light, the mineralogy is awash in color allowing for more complete mineral identification.

  
   
 
Presented on this page along with a listing of available thin-sections are selected images from specimens in thin-section that we've worked with. These images represent "text-book" examples of textures and other identifying characteristics used in the petrographic classification of meteorites and will be helpful to any serious students of meteorite petrology.
  
     
 
The following listing represents thin-sections that are usually available. Please email us for current availability and prices on individual thin sections.
  
 

e-mail: lab@meteorlab.com

  
     
     

     
     
 
Dhofar 125, Oman, Acopulcoite.
Acopulcoites are primitive achondrites with a fine-grained mineralogy of approximately chondritic abundances -- olivine, pyroxene, plagioclase, metal, and troilite. The matrix texture is equigranular.		   Zagami, Achondrite, Basaltic Shergottite, of martian origin.
Augite (elongated pyroxene crystals) in a fine-grained matrix. Shergottites are magmatic culmulates.
     

Thin Section Listing. Please contact us for prices and availability.

e-mail: lab@meteorlab.com

THIN SECTION NAME TYPE CLASSIFICATION
Abee, Canada Enstatite chondrite Impact-melt, EH4
Adhi-kot, Pakistan Enstatite chondrite EH4
Allende, Mexico Carbonaceous chondrite CV3
Atoka, Oklahoma USA Chondrite L6
Ausson, France Chondrite L5
Bath, South Dakota, USA Chondrite H4
Beaver Creek, BC, Canada Chondrite H5
Bluff, Texas, USA Chondrite L5
Bondoc, Philippines Stony-iron Mesosiderite
Bur-Gheluai, Somalia Chondrite H5
Charsonville, France Chondrite H6
Crab Orchard, Tennessee, USA Stony-iron Mesosiderite
Dar al Gani 190, Libya Carbonaceous chondrite CO3
Dar al Gani 412, Libya Carbonaceous chondrite CK5
Dar al Gani 430, Libya Carbonaceous chondrite C3, Ungrouped
Dimmitt, Texas, USA Chondrite H3.7
Divnoe, Ukraine Achondrite, UNGR Primitive Achondrite
Dhofar 125, Oman Acopulcoite Primitive Achondrite
Estacado, Texas, USA Chondrite H6
Etter, Texas, USA Chondrite L5
Farmington, Texas, USA Chondrite L5
Flandreau, South Dakota, USA Chondrite H5
Gao, Burkina-Faso Chondrite H5
Ghubara, Oman Chondrite L5
Gold Basin, Arizona, USA Chondrite L4

 
 
Inside a chondrule! Bath, South Dakota, USA. Stone, H4
A pyroxene-rich chondrule showing polysynthetically twinned clinoenstatite. Field of view - 1.1mm.


Continuation of Alphabetized Listing of Thin Sections.
Please Contact us for Prices.

e-mail: lab@meteorlab.com

THIN SECTION NAME TYPE CLASSIFICATION
Happy Canyon, Texas, USA Enstatite chondrite E6
Haxtun, Colorado, USA Chondrite H/L4, transitional
Holbrook, Arizona, USA Chondrite L6
Huckitta, Australia Stony-iron Pallasite
Indarch, Azerbaijan Enstatite chondrite EH4
Ioka, Utah, USA Chondrite L3
Jilin, China Chondrite H5
Johnstown, Colorado, USA Achondrite Diogenite
Julesburg, Colorado, USA Chondrite L3
Kapoeta, Sudan Achondrite Howardite
Kendleton, Texas, USA Chondrite L4
Kesen, Japan Chondrite H4
L'Aigle, France Chondrite L6
Melrose (a), USA Chondrite L5
Millbillillie, Australia Achondrite Eucrite
Mocs, Romania Chondrite L6
Monroe, North Carolina, USA Chondrite H4
Mount Tazerzait, Niger Chondrite L5
Murchison, Australia Carbonaceous chondrite CM2
New Concord, USA Chondrite L6
Northbranch, USA Chondrite H5
NWA 060 Carbonaceous chondrite CK5
NWA 062 Carbonaceous chondrite CO3
NWA 110 Chondrite L6
Oak, Australia Chondrite L5

     
     
 
Dar al Gani 412, CK5
Although looking like a Deep Space Hubble image this is actually a partial/deformed chondrule currently under study. Field of view - 1.7mm.		   Dhofar 025,Oman, Lunar.
Dhofar 025 is a regolith breccia containing numerous mineral fragments and clasts of feldspathic rocks embedded in a glass-rich matrix. The white, rock-like fragments are plagioclase feldspar.
     

Continuation of Alphabetized Listing of Thin Sections.
Please Contact us for Prices.

e-mail: lab@meteorlab.com

 THIN SECTION NAME TYPE CLASSIFICATION
Parnallee, India Chondrite LL3
Peekskill, New York, USA Chondrite H6
Pena Blanca Springs, Texas, USA Achondrite Aubrite
Pevensey, Australia Chondrite LL5
Pillistfer, Estonia Enstatite chondrite EL6
Pinto Mountains, California, USA Chondrite L6
Portales Valley, USA Chondrite H6
Pultusk, Poland Chondrite H5
Richfield, Kansas, USA Chondrite LL3
Sahara 97137 Chondrite L/LL4
Sahara 98234 Chondrite L6, Ringwoodite
Sahara 97096 Enstatite chondrite EH3
Saint Severin, France Chondrite LL6
Say al Uhaymir 008, Oman Achondrite Shergottite
Sierra Colorado, Argentina Chondrite L5
Soko Banja, Serbia Chondrite LL4
Songyuan, China Chondrite L6
Stannern, Czech Republic Achondrite Eucrite
Tugalin-Bulen, Mongolia Chondrite H6
Tuxtuac, Mexico Chondrite LL5
Vaca Muerta, Chile Stony-iron Mesosiderite
Vouille, France Chondrite L6
Vyatka, Russia Chondrite H4
Weston, Connecticut, USA Chondrite H4
Zag, Morocco Chondrite H3-6
Zegdou, Morocco Chondrite H3

     
     
 
Parnallee, India, LL3 chondrite.
Two barred olivine (non-porphyritic), type BO, chondrules. The chondrule on the right is rimmed with the same olivine material as the interior bars or plates. Seen in cross section, the rim is actually a spherical shell that encases the chondrule. Transmitted light, crossed polarizers, long dimension: 2.3mm		   Pena Blanca Springs, Texas, USA, Aubrite.
From a mineralogical perspective, Aubrites, of all the achondrites, may be the most fascinating. These meteorites formed under highly reducing conditions and, as a result, contain a variety of minerals unknown on Earth. They are brecciated pyroxenites that consist primarily of FeO-free enstatite.
     

Ordering

Please return! We will add new images to this page as time and specimens become available.

Return to Catalog Page

This document maintained by lab@meteorlab.com.
Material and images Copyright © 2008, New England Meteoritical Services. Index