Bensour

Morocco
Fall, 11.2.2002

Chondrite LL6
Complete specimen 223g

History:
Eyewitness accounts from several nomads in the border region of Morocco and Algeria attest to a significant fall of many individual stones on February 11, 2002. However these reports are not detailed. Total weight is estimated to be in excess of 45 kg. Individual stones (up to 9.2 kg) are very pale grey with a glistening black fusion crust.

Several hundred small stones fall, the largest being a 9.2 kilogram individual which broke into 3 large pieces on impact. This piece and several other large ones of over 1 kilos landed in Algeria, just across the border from Morocco. The smaller stones mostly landed in Morocco. The strewnfield was about 5 kilometers long and quite compact.

The stones landed in a rocky area causing many of the pieces to shatter after impacting the ground. Since the native people knew they were meteorites, the next day many inhabitants went to collect more pieces. The meteorites fell in a line of about 5 or 6 kilometers long, straddling the Algeria/Morocco border. Small individuals were concentrated in a single area, however the larger pieces were recovered over great distances into Algeria.

Specimen Description:
A 137 gram complete individual with black fresh crust and small chips exposing the white matrix. Piece has nice shape with small thump prints. This piece was picked just after the fall and had been in the collection of a French women living in the Morocco.

Comments:
This is a good example of fresh LL meteorite.

References:
Metbull data base