NWA 6414
Our in-house facilities were used to collect backscattered electron (BSE) imagery and chemical analysis. BSE images can highlight the distribution of elements across a sample based on their atomic number, which is very useful when determining where different mineral phases are across a sample. These images also help us distinguish between different textures.
BSE imagery of NWA 6414 showed that the sample was brecciated and composed of multiple different types of rock of different clasts. Combined X-ray element maps and normalised compositional data collected by EDS indicated mineral phases such as pyroxene and plagioclase. These analyses also provided a further distinction between clasts and matrix material across the meteorite.
NWA 6414 was officially classified as a polymict eucrite in late 2021. The type specimen is held at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.