Northwest Africa 5796 (NWA 5796)

Northwest Africa 5796 was discovered in Algeria during 2008 in the form of fourteen complete stones totalling 2.9kgs. However, the 4.3kg main mass (broken in half) was found a few months later bringing the Total Known Weight to 7.2kg. This must have been a small fall of relatively large sized stones. In fact the average individual weight is about 480g per stone and even with the main mass not taken into consideration that weight would still be 208g.

NWA 5796 was classified as an Ordinary Chondrite H4 with a very fresh Weathering Level of W0-1 (unweathered). The stones from this find exhibit a beautiful thick, black fusion crust with some stones also displaying a striking patchwork of contraction cracking. Cracks and chips in the surface will often show small crisp chondrules set in a pale white matrix. The specimen below is the only clearly oriented specimen from this small find and is part of the Meteorites Australia Collection (MA.08.0022).