Mineralogical and petrological analyses of two possible achondrite meteorites recovered from the Thiel Mountains, Antarctica

In January 2000, the Planetary Studies Foundation (PSF) of Algonquin, Illinois USA chose to extend its meteorite collecting efforts to the Thiel Mountains of Antartical, an area of known meteorite concentrations. The goal of this mission was to expand the previously searched blue ice areas at the Moulton Escarpment and to collect as many meteorites as possible. Two previous National Science Foundation search teams collectively recovered 36 meteorites. In five days of searching the PSF team collected 19 confirmed stone meteorites and two possible achondrites. Later evaluation and analyses of these specimens indicated that one of the original 19 stone meteorites, TIL 99002, was actually a rare achondrite and that the other two possible achondrites were not. Preliminary analyses indicate that TIL 99002 is either an acapulcoite or a lodranite, while the other two are terrestrial dacite or porphyritic andesite.