Gujba

Yobe, Nigeria

Fell 1984 April 3, 18:30 local time

Bencubbin-like meteorite

A conical meteorite fell in a corn field near the village of Bogga Dingare after a bright fireball was witnessed moving west to east and an explosion was heard. The local people hammered the meteorite into many pieces, and most of the material was dispersed. The original mass is unknown, although secondhand reports indicate that it had a volume of ~20 000 cm³, and thus a mass of ~100 kg. Material that almost certainly came from this fall has been sold in the last few years elsewhere in Nigeria, with claims that the specimens were new finds. A preliminary description of the meteorite appears in Islam and Ostaficzuk (1988). Description (L. Karwowski, USil, based on the original mass): contains metal nodules, 1.5–8 mm in diameter, and silicate nodules 1–15 mm in diameter with fan-like aggregates of pyroxene; 60% of nodules are metal. Description and classification (A. Rubin and G. Kallemeyn, UCLA, based on a 282 g fragment purchased in 2000 near the village of Gidan Wire in Kaduna state): consists of large metal nodules containing variable amounts of troilite, and cryptocrystalline silicate spheroids; silicates include pyroxene (Fs_1–2Wo_1–3) and rare olivine (Fa₃); siderophile abundance pattern in metal is similar to that of Bencubbin; shock stage, S2; weathering grade, W0. Oxygen isotopes (R. Clayton, UChi): light-colored silicates, δ¹⁷O = –2.19·, δ¹⁸O = +0.53·; dark-colored silicates, δ¹⁷O = –1.78·, δ¹⁸O = +0.98·. Specimens: 12.2 kg, mostly disintegrated, UMaid; 815 g, MZ; type specimen, 64 g, UCLA; remainder of 282 g mass, Twelker.