Chassigny (meteorite)

Chassigny is a Mars meteorite which fell on October 3, 1815, at approximately 8:00 am, in Chassigny, Haute-Marne, France.[2][3] Chassigny is the meteorite for which the chassignites are named, and gives rise to the "C" in SNCs. Chassigny is an olivine cumulate rock (dunite). It consists almost entirely of olivine with intercumulous pyroxene, feldspar, and oxides. Chassigny was the only known chassignite until NWA2737 was found in the Moroccan Sahara in northwest Africa.[4]

Mars meteorite rock, in Vienna science Museum.

Chassigny meteorite
Thin section of Chassigny under cross-polarized light (JPL)
Type	Achondrite
Class	Martian meteorite
Group	Chassignite
Parent body	Mars
Country	France
Region	Chassigny, Haute-Marne
Coordinates	47°43′N 5°23′E[1]
Fall date	1815-10-03
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Chassigny is particularly important because, unlike most SNCs, its noble gas composition differs from that in the current Martian atmosphere. These differences are presumably due to its cumulate (mantle-derived) nature.[5]

See also

• Glossary of meteoritics
• Meteorite falls

References

1. Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Chassigny
2. Pistollet (1816) The circumstances of the Chassigny meteorite shower. Ann. Chim. Phys. (Paris) v. 1, pg 45-48.
3. "The Chassigny Meteorite" - From NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, stating it is the only example. URL accessed September 6, 2006.
4. Beck P., Barret J. A., Gillet P., Franchi I.A., Greenwood R. C., Van De Moortele B., Reyard B., Bohn M. and Cotton J. (2005) The Diderot Meteorite, the second chassignite.Lunar and Planet. Sci. XXXVI, Abstract #1326.
5. Mars Meteorite Compendium: Chassigny, Compiled by Charles Meyer.