The Dhofar 008 (Dho 008) meteorite was discovered in the Dhofar region of Oman on December 4th, 1999. Three stones with dark brownish-black fusion crust and a Total Known Weight of 2200g were found. Dhofar 008 is a highly unequilibrated primitive chondrite with a very heterogenous nature. This made classification somewhat difficult as the olivine and pyroxene compositions belong to the H-Chondrites while the oxygen isotopic compositions were also far from the range usually found in L-Chondrites. However, the bulk chemical composition and thermoluminescence results put Dhofar 008 in the L-Chondrite group. The average chondrule diameter of Dhofar 008 is 600μm which is in the low range for the L-Chondrite group. The uncertainties in classification are likely due to this meteorite's primitive, heterogenous nature and it has also been theorised that it may contain material from several different reservoirs.

While Dhofar 008 was initially classified as an intermediate/transitional H/L3.2/3.3, this was later refined and the classification now officially stands at L3.3 with a Shock Rating of S3 and a Weathering Level of W2. The specimens below are part of the Meteorites Australia Collection (MA.04.0016) & (MA.07.0006).

Geochemical and Thermoluminescence studies of Dhofar 008, L3.2/3.3 Chondrite.
M.A. Ivanova, N.N. Kononkova, L.D. Barsukova, V. A. Ivliev, S. Afanasiev, R. N. Clayton, T. N. Maeyda, M. A. Nazarov, (12KB)