Erg Chech 002 Achondrite-ung was found in the sand dunes of southwest Algeria in May 2020. Stones range in size from pebbles to a few weighing in the 4 kilogram range. Total weight could be about 45 kilograms. Classification was done by Tony Irving, University of Washington (Seattle), Paul Carpenter at Washington University (St. Louis) and Karen Ziegler at University of New Mexico (Albuquerque).
This is a lightly shocked igneous rock with a groundmass of pyroxenes, feldspars and minor minerals in which are included large crystals of pyroxene. The megacryst compositions differ considerably from each other and are generally more magnesian and chromium rich than diogenite pyroxene. The feldspar composition is quite sodic for a meteorite. That is, it is higher in sodium (and lower in calcium) than expected. This difference and its oxygen isotopes distinguish it from regular HED meteorites and also from a certain small group of anomalous eucrites.
In thin section this meteorite is visually striking with the megacrysts, their rims and the prismatic pyroxene grains embedded in the pyroxene / plagioclase feldspar groundmass.
