Northwest Africa 13279 | CV3

Carbonaceous chondrite, CV3
Found in Morocco, 2019

NWA 13279 was purchased in 2019 from a Moroccan dealer and classified as an exciting CV3. The CV3s are a subgroup of carbonaceous chondrites that take their name from the Vigarano meteorite, a witnessed fall that fell in 1910 in Italy.

Carbonaceous chondrites are rare and very ancient; they contain organic compounds like carbon, water, and even amino acids. The CV3s, a special group of carbonaceous chondrites, exhibit large chondrules, some of which are surrounded by igneous rims, and large inclusions. These chondrules are believed to have formed 4.6 billion years ago, at the very dawn of the solar system.

CV3s in particular are unequilibrated chondrites, meaning that the minerals they contain (like olivine and pyroxene) show a wide range of compositions. This suggests that these minerals formed in the solar nebula under volatile conditions. The solar nebula was a flat, rotating disk of gas and dust which condensed to form the solar system.