Mössbauer Study of El-Bahrain Meteorite

A stone of brick-like shape, measuring roughly 25×12.5×10.5 cm3 and weighing 14 kg was found in 1983, in the western desert of Egypt. The meteorite was named El-Bahrain meteorite and classified as L-chondrite. In the present paper, the principal constituents of El-Bahrain meteorite have been studied by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy. The chemical composition as obtained by the conventional wet analyses of L-chondritic meteorites showed that the meteorite contains 23.38% Fe and 1.23% Ni. While the analysis of the atomic absorption showed the presence of 27.03% as a total iron. The Mössbauer analysis of El-Bahrain meteorite showed that the iron constituent minerals were determined to be olivine, metallic iron-nickel alloys (kamacite, taenite and tetrataenite), ferrous sulfide (troilite) and weathering products such as maghemite and nanocrystalline hematite. The structure of meteoritic iron obtained by the Mössbauer analysis has been discussed on the basis of these constituents.