Abstract.We review the radiometric ages of the 16 currently known Martian meteorites, classified as 11 shergottites (8 basaltic and 3 lherzolitic), 3 nakhlites (clinopyroxenites), Chassigny (a dunite), and the orthopyroxenite ALH84001. The basaltic shergottites represent surface lava flows, the others magmas that solidified at depth. Shock effects correlate with these compositional types, and, in each case, they can be attributed to a single shock event, most likely the meteorite's ejection from Mars. Peak pressures in the range 15 − 45 GPa appear to be a "launch window": shergottites experienced ∼30 − 45 GPa, nakhlites ∼20 ± 5 GPa, Chassigny ∼35 GPa, and ALH84001 ∼35 − 40 GPa. Two meteorites, lherzolitic shergottite Y-793605 and orthopyroxenite ALH84001, are monomict breccias, indicating a two-phase shock history in toto: monomict brecciation at depth in a first impact and later shock metamorphism in a second impact, probably the ejection event.Crystallization ages of shergottites show only two pronounced groups designated S 1 (∼175 Myr), including 4 of 6 dated basalts and all 3 lherzolites, and S 2 (330 − 475 Myr), including two basaltic shergottites and probably a third according to preliminary data. Ejection ages of shergottites, defined as the sum of their cosmic ray exposure ages and their terrestrial residence ages, range from the oldest (∼20 Myr) to the youngest (∼0.7 Myr) values for Martian meteorites. Five groups are distinguished and designated S Dho (one basalt, ∼20 Myr), S L (two lherzolites of overlapping ejection ages, 3.94 ± 0.40 Myr and 4.70 ± 0.50 Myr), S (four basalts and one lherzolite, ∼2.7 − 3.1 Myr), S DaG (two basalts, ∼1.25 Myr), and S E (the youngest basalt, 0.73 ± 0.15 Myr). Consequently, crystallization age group S 1 includes ejection age groups S L , S E and 4 of the 5 members of S, whereas S 2 includes the remaining member of S and one of the two members of S DaG . Shock effects are different for basalts and lherzolites in group S/S 1 . Similarities to the dated meteorite DaG476 suggest that the two shergottites that are not dated yet belong to group S 2 . Whether or not S 2 is a single group is unclear at present. If crystallization age group S 1 represents a single ejection event, pre-exposure on the Martian surface is required to account for ejection ages of S L that are greater than ejection ages of S, whereas secondary breakup in space is required to account for ejection ages of S E less than those of S. Because one member of crystallization age group S 2 belongs to ejection group S, the maximum number of shergottite ejection events is 6, whereas the minimum number is 2.Crystallization ages of nakhlites and Chassigny are concordant at ∼1.3 Gyr. These meteorites also have concordant ejection ages, i.e., they were ejected together in a single event (NC). Shock effects vary within group NC between the nakhlites and Chassigny.The orthopyroxenite ALH84001 is characterized by the oldest crystallization age of ∼4.5 Gyr. Its secondary carbonates are ∼3.9 Gyr old, an age corresponding t...

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The lunar meteorite Sayh al Uhaymir 169 consists of an impact melt breccia extremely enriched with potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus [thorium, 32.7 parts per million (ppm); uranium, 8.6 ppm; potassium oxide, 0.54 weight percent], and adherent regolith. The isotope systematics of the meteorite record four lunar impact events at 3909 +/- 13 million years ago (Ma), approximately 2800 Ma, approximately 200 Ma, and <0.34 Ma, and collision with Earth sometime after 9.7 +/- 1.3 thousand years ago. With these data, we can link the impact-melt breccia to Imbrium and pinpoint the source region of the meteorite to the Lalande impact crater.

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— Mineralogy, major element compositions of minerals, and elemental and oxygen isotopic compositions of the whole rock attest to a lunar origin of the meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 032, an unbrecciated basalt found in October 1999. The rock consists predominantly of olivine, pyroxene and chromite phenocrysts, set in a crystalline groundmass of feldspar, pyroxene, ilmenite, troilite and trace metal. Whole‐rock shock veins comprise a minor, but ubiquitous portion of the rock. Undulatory to mosaic extinction in olivine and pyroxene phenocrysts and micro‐faults in groundmass and phenocrysts also are attributed to shock. Several geochemical signatures taken together indicate unambiguously that NWA 032 originated from the Moon. The most diagnostic criteria include whole‐rock oxygen isotopic composition and ratios of Fe/Mn in the whole rock, olivine, and pyroxene. A lunar origin is documented further by the presence of Fe‐metal, troilite, and ilmenite; zoning to extremely Fe‐rich compositions in pyroxene; the ferrous oxidation state of all Fe in pyroxene; and the rare earth element (REE) pattern with a well‐defined negative europium anomaly. This rock is similar in major element chemistry to basalts from Apollo 12 and 15, but is enriched in light REE and has an unusually high Th/Sm ratio. Some Apollo 14 basalts yield a closer match to NWA 032 in REE patterns, but have higher concentrations of Al2O3. Ar‐Ar step release results are complex, but yield a whole‐rock age of ˜2.8 Ga, suggesting that NWA 032 was extruded at 2.8 Ga or earlier. This rock may be the youngest sample of mare basalt collected to date. Noble gas concentrations combined with previously collected radionuclide data indicate that the meteorite exposure history is distinct from currently recognized lunar meteorites. In short, the geochemical and petrographic features of NWA 032 are not matched by Apollo or Luna samples, nor by previously identified lunar meteorites, indicating that it originates from a previously unsampled mare deposit. Detailed assessment of petrographic features, olivine zoning, and thermodynamic modelling indicate a relatively simple cooling and crystallization history for NWA 032. Chromite‐spinel, olivine, and pyroxene crystallized as phenocrysts while the magma cooled no faster than 2 °C/h based on the polyhedral morphology of olivine. Comparison of olivine size with crystal growth rates and preserved Fe‐Mg diffusion profiles in olivine phenocrysts suggest that olivine was immersed in the melt for no more than 40 days. Plumose textures in groundmass pyroxene, feldspar, and ilmenite, and Fe‐rich rims on the phenocrysts formed during rapid crystallization (cooling rates ˜20 to 60 °C/h) after eruption.