ZAGAMI
11*44'N., 7*5'E.
Katsina province, Nigeria
Achondrite, Shergottite (Martian basalt)
Fell on October 3, 1962. A man chasing cows out of his cornfield
in Zagami
Rock, Nigeria heard a loud explosion and was buffeted by a
pressure wave.
Seconds later there was a puff of smoke and a thud about 10
feet away. A 40 pound stone believed to have
come from Mars had just arrived.
Of the 20,000 meteorites that have been
discovered on Earth, only 12 have been identified as originating
from the planet Mars.
Geochemists from the Univ. of California, San Diego have analyzed
glasses that were shock-melted when Zagami was blasted off the
Martian surface and into space.They report that the gas samples
from these glasses are very similar to atmospheric gasses the two
U.S. Viking spacecraft found when they landed on Mars in 1976.
The Zagami stone must have resided on or near the surface of Mars
because not all of the 12 recognized Martian meteorites contain
these trapped gases. Zagami is mostly a fine-grained
pyroxene-rich basalt consisting of 75% pyroxene (augite and
pigeonite) and 25% plagioclase glass and minor amounts of
mesostasis and oxide and accessory sulfide and phosphate.
Shown is a 40mm X 17mm X 12mm slice of 20.9 grams, E-mail offers considered.