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  L6

TKW 1001 grams. Fall not observed. Found September 16, 2011, in the city of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, US.


Jansen writes:

The Rio Rancho Meteorite was discovered by Jansen Lyons on September 16th, 2011, with a home made metal detector made from a stick, a HomeDepot orange bucket lid, and spare parts from a relative's garage and workshop.

It weighed before classification 1001 grams, was moderately weathered, has distinct relict chondrules revealed both within the cut face and on the weathered exterior, and has an official classification by Dr. C. Agee as an L6 ordinary Chondrite with evenly dispersed metal "fleks" throughout. A 28 gram deposit now resides in the Institute of Meteoritics collection at UNM, (University of New Mexico), under the direction of Dr. C. Agee.

Two broken faces, one on both the upper and lower faces of the meteorite, reveal green and stained interior which is confirmed by the cut face. Weathering puts the stone at about 10,000-15,000 years on Earth. There are no obvious shock veins or shocked material, but there are occasional anomalies of more concentrated areas of metal that show thick rusting on the upper exterior. Remnant regmaglypts and fusion crust also present with weathering related contraction lines that may be a result of original fusion crust contractions. Mild deposits of calichè are present on the face that was buried in the sand where the stone was recovered. Also, this meteorite was the only present rock of any kind at the find site, which was a sandy outcropping in the desert. Local erosion may make it difficult to find more from this ancient fall, but Lyons is still searching.

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