Serra Pelada: the first Amazonian Meteorite fall is a Eucrite (basalt) from Asteroid 4-Vesta

Abstract

Serra Pelada is the newest Brazilian eucrite and the first recovered fall from Amazonia (State of Pará, Brazil, June 29 th 2017). In this paper, we report on its petrography, chemistry, mineralogy and its magnetic properties. Study of four thin sections reveals that the meteorite is brecciated, containing basaltic and gabbroic clasts, as well of recrystallized impact melt, embedded into a fine-medium grained matrix. Chemical analyses suggest that Serra Pelada is a monomict basaltic eucritic breccia, and that the meteorite is a normal member of the HED suite. Our results provide additional geological and compositional information on the lithological diversity of its parent body. The mineralogy of Serra Pelada consists basically of low-Ca pyroxene and high-Ca plagioclase with accessory minerals such as quartz, sulphide (troilite), chromite -ulvöspinel and ilmenite. These data are consistent with the meteorite being an eucrite, a basaltic achondrite and a member of the howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) clan of meteorites which most likely are from the crust asteroid 4 Vesta.Key words: Serra Pelada, meteorite, eucrite, Vesta, Brazilian Meteorite.

Malotas (b), a new eucrite from an old fall

“…Only few basaltic eucrites and eucrite clasts in howardites have been discussed to be affected by metasomatic events and most exhibit metasomatic alteration features typically occurring on a small scale. Several features that are attributed to these metasomatic reactions include: Fe‐enrichments of pyroxenes along cracks (Barrat et al., 2011); fayalitic veins that cross pyroxene grains (Barrat et al., 2011; Roszjar et al., 2011), which are also found in the recently observed basaltic eucrite fall Serra Pelada (Zucolotto et al., 2018); secondary Na‐poor plagioclase (Barrat et al., 2011; Warren et al., 2014); microveins dominated by other phases such as Cr‐spinel and silica with traces of ilmenite, troilite, and probably also zircon (e.g., NWA 5738; Warren et al., 2014); the breakdown of pyroxene to silica and troilite (Mayne et al., 2016; Pang et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2013), among others. The majority of these features are included in the different alteration models proposed by Barrat et al.…”

“…(2019). Other more recent records of observed eucrite falls include the Puerto Lápice eucrite in Spain 2007 (Llorca et al., 2009), the Serra Pelada eucrite in Brazil in 2017 (Zucolotto et al., 2018), and Motopi Pan HED polymict breccia 2018 in Botswana that is connected to the asteroid 2018 LA and likely originated from 4 Vesta (Jenniskens et al., 2021).…”

Parauapebas meteorite from Pará, Brazil, a “hammer” breccia chondrite

“…Parauapebas is the third official meteorite found in the state of Pará, along with the Ipitinga chondrite, H5, found in the Ipitinga mountain range, Almeirim city, in 1989 (Dreher et al 1995), and Serra Pelada, a rare anomalous brecciated eucrite that fell in the famous village of Serra Pelada, city of Curionópolis, in 2017 (Zucolotto et al 2018, Yin et al 2019. Parauapebas is also the first recognized meteorite fall of Pará State, despite the fact that Serra Pelada meteorite was classified and made official first.…”