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A new carbon-rich ureilite from Morocco

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to provide a preliminary analysis of the meteorite North West Africa (NWA) 12606 recently classified as ureilite, which was found in 2018 in Morocco, to unveil the possible presence of diamonds. The preliminary analysis of the surface of a meteorite fragment by scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and optical microscopy has shown that it mainly consisted of olivine, minor pyroxene and carbon phases possibly including carbon in the form of diamonds. The results achieved are preliminary to a further deeper study of this meteorite as the diamond origin in ureilites is still an open issue debated among the scientific community due to its significant implications for the sizes of early Solar System bodies.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Baa Ali for graciously donating this meteorite to the University Museum of Meteorites (MUM), and to MUM that provided the fragment of NWA 12606 meteorite. We appreciate the technical support of Prof. R. Leghrib, Scientific Research Center of the Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, for performing SEM analyses.

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No funds, grants, or other support was received.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petrology Mineralogy and Meteorites Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, B.P. 8106, Agadir, Morocco

    Abderrahmane Ibhi, Fouad Khiri & Lahcen Ouknine

  2. University Meteorites Museum, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco

    Abderrahmane Ibhi, Fouad Khiri, Lahcen Ouknine & Ahmed Ait Touchnt

  3. Istituto di Cristallografia (IC), CNR, Via Salaria Km 29.300, 00016, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Capitelli

  4. Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi (ISTP), CNR, sede di Bari, Via Amendola 122/D, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Olga De Pascale & Giorgio S. Senesi

Authors
  1. Abderrahmane Ibhi
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  2. Fouad Khiri
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  3. Lahcen Ouknine
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  4. Ahmed Ait Touchnt
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  5. Francesco Capitelli
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  6. Olga De Pascale
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  7. Giorgio S. Senesi
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Contributions

Conceptualization: [AI, FK, LO, AAT, GSS]; Methodology: [AI, FK, LO, AAT, FC, GSS]; Formal analysis and investigation: [AI, FK, LO, AAT, FC, GSS]; Writing—original draft preparation: [AI, GSS]; Writing—review and editing: [AI, FK, FC, ODP, GSS]; Supervision: [AI, GSS].

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giorgio S. Senesi.

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Ibhi, A., Khiri, F., Ouknine, L. et al. A new carbon-rich ureilite from Morocco. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 32, 709–713 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-021-01013-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-021-01013-0

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