X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fields Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) with EDS and Mössbauer Spectroscopy (MS), were applied to investigate a newly fallen solid piece of debris named the Aba Panu meteorite, after a city in south western Nigeria (Lat: N 08° 14′ 25.7″ and Long: E 003° 33′ 47.0″). Matching X-ray diffraction results, together with the FE-SEM analysis confirms the presence of four kinds of iron-bearing minerals, namely olivine, pyroxene, kamacite (Fe-Ni alloys) and troilite (FeS). The Mössbauer spectra recorded at 295 K and 78 K consist of two strong paramagnetic doublets emanating from olivine of quadrupole splitting 2.9 mm/s and pyroxene of quadrupole splitting 2.1 mm/s. These are superimposed on two magnetic sub-spectra attributed to kamacite and troilite phases. From the Mössbauer sub-spectra absorption area, the ratio of the olivine absorption area to the pyroxene absorption area indicates that the meteorite can be classified as an L-ordinary chondrite. The mole fraction of the Fe end-member of olivine (fayalite) and the orthopyroxene (ferrosilite) calculated from the EDS data will be used to identify the petrographic type of the meteorite.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been carried out at the Physics Department, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University. Thanks are due to the Central Analytical & Applications Research Unit (CAARU). Thanks are also due to Mr. Saif Al-Maamari of CAARU and Dr. Myo Tay Zar Myint of the Surface Lab. Mr. Hamyar Nasser Al-Shukeili is acknowledged for his help in producing the figures. Our sincere thanks go to the Mineral Development Agency, Oyo State Government, for making the meteorite fragments available to the Geology Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Proceedings of the International Conference on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ICAME2019), 1-6 September 2019, Dalian, China
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Gismelssed, A., Okunlola, O., Al-Rawas, A. et al. Characterization of a newly fallen Nigerian meteorite. Hyperfine Interact 241, 13 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-019-1683-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-019-1683-7