Opaque minerals in the Qingzhen (EH3) and MacAlpine Hills (MAC) 88136 (EL3) enstatite chondrites were studied and compared with other EH and EL chondrites. All opaque minerals usually occur in multi-sulfide-metal clasts and nodules in the matrix between chondrules (El Goresy et al., 1988). The higher abundance of opaque minerals, the occurrence of niningerite and various alkali-sulfides (e.g., caswellsilverite, phases A and B, djerfisherite) are diagnostic criteria for EH chondrites, while alabandite is characteristic for EL chondrites. In addition, EH chondrites are characterized by enrichments of Si in both kamacite and perryite, and alkali elements in sphalerite and chalcopyrite. The Mn contents of daubreelite and sphalerite are lower in EH than in EL chondrites. These are consistent with lower oxygen fugacity and higher H2S fugacity of EH than EL chondrites. In contrast, the discovery of sphalerite and Zn-rich daubreelite in MAC 88136 indicates that their absence in EL6 chondrites is probably related to thermal metamorphism in the parent body. Schreibersite microspherules are commonly enclosed in most sulfides in Qingzhen, but are absent in MAC 88136. They were once molten, and probably predated all sulfide host phases. The petrographic setting and chemical compositions of the sulfide hosts of the schreibersite microspherules in EH3 chondrites are consistent with formation by condensation. The earliest sulfide condensates oldhamite and niningerite occupy the interiors of the clasts and nodules, whereas the rims consist of troilite and djerfisherite. In addition, in Qingzhen, some other troilite, djerfisherite and sphalerite assemblages coexist with perryite. They were produced by sulfurization of metallic Fe-Ni in the nebula. In MAC 88136, sulfurization of Si-bearing Fe-Ni metal is less pronounced, and it produced troilite, schreibersite and less abundant perryite. Two kinds of normal zoning and a reverse zoning trends of niningerite, and both normal and reverse zoning of sphalerite were found in clasts and nodules in Qingzhen. The coexistence of normal and reverse zoning profiles in niningerite grains in the same meteorite strongly suggests that they formed before accretion in the parent body, because an asteroidal metamorphic or an impact event in the parent body would have erased these contrasting profiles and destroyed the textural settings. In contrast, alabandite in MAC 88136 shows only normal zoning, with the FeS content decreasing to 9.3 mol% toward troilite, indicating very slow cooling at low temperature

North West Africa (NWA) 480 is a new martian meteorite of 28 g found in the Moroccan Sahara in November 2000. It consists mainly of large gray pyroxene crystals (the largest grains are up to 5 mm in length) and plagioclase converted to maskelynite. Excluding the melt pocket areas, modal analyses indicate the following mineral proportions: 72 vol% pyroxenes extensively zoned, 25% maskelynite, 1% phosphates (merrillite and chlorapatite), 1% opaque oxides (ilmenite, ulvospinel and chromite) and sulfides, and 1% others such as silica and fayalite. The compositional trend of NWA 480 pyroxenes is similar to that of Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201 but in NWA 480 the pyroxene cores are more Mg-rich (En77-En65). Maskelynites display a limited zoning (An42-50Ab54-48Or2-4). Our observations suggest that NWA 480 formed from a melt with a low nuclei density at a slow cooling rate. The texture was achieved via a single-stage cooling where pyroxenes grew continuously. A similar model was previously proposed for QUE 94201 by McSween et al. (1996). NWA 480 is an Al-poor ferroan basaltic rock and resembles Zagami or Shergotty for major elements and compatible trace element abundances. The bulk rock analysis for oxygen isotopes yields Delta-17O = +0.42 ppm, a value in agreement at the high margin, with those measured on other shergottites (Clayton and Mayeda, 1996; Romanek et al., 1998; Franchi et al., 1999). Its CI-normalized rare earth element pattern is similar to those of peridotitic shergottites such as Allan Hills (ALH)A77005, suggesting that these shergottites shared a similar parent liquid, or at least the same mantle source.

A stony meteorite fell at Itawa Bhopji, Rajasthan, India on 2000 May 30. This is the fifth recorded fall in a small area of Rajasthan during the past decade. The meteorite is an ordinary chondrite with light clasts in a dark matrix, consisting of a mixture of equilibrated (mainly type 5) and unequilibrated components. Olivine is Fa24-26 and pyroxene Fs20-22 but, within the unequilibrated components, olivine (Fa5-29) and low calcium pyroxene (Fs5-37) are highly variable. Based on petrographic studies and chemical analyses, it is classified as L(3-5) regolith breccia. Studies of various cosmogenic records, including several gamma-emitting radionuclides varying in half-life from 5.6 day 52Mn to 0.73 Ma 26Al, tracks and rare gases have been carried out. The exposure age of the meteorite is estimated from cosmogenic components of rare gases to be 19.6 Ma. The track density varies by a factor of ~3 (from 4 to 12 x 10^6/cm^2) within the meteorite, indicating a preatmospheric body of ~9 cm radius (corresponding to a meteoroid mass of ~11 kg) and small ablation (1.5 to 3.6 cm). Trapped components in various rare gases are high and the solar component is present in the dark portion of the meteorite. Large excess of neutron-produced 82Kr and 128Xe in both the light and the dark lithology but very low 60Co, indicating low neutron fluxes received by the meteoroid in the interplanetary space, are clear signatures of an additional irradiation on the parent body.

The lengths of the shadows cast within simple, bowl-shaped impact craters have been used to constrain their depths on a variety of planetary bodies. This technique, however, only yields the "true" crater depth if the shadow transects the crater center where the floor is deepest. In the past, attempts have been made to circumvent this limitation by choosing only craters where the shadow tip lies very near the crater center; but this approach may introduce serious artifacts that adversely affect the slope of the regressed depth vs. diameter data and its variance. Here we introduce an improved method for deriving depth information from shadow measurements that considers three basic shape variations of simple craters: paraboloidal, conical, and flat-floored. We show that the shape of the cast shadow can be used to constrain crater shape and we derive improved equations for finding the depths of these simple craters.