A NEW STONY-IRON METEORITE FIND IN KATTAMIYA DESERT, SOUTH EAST CAIRO, EGYPT

The present study records for the first time are the presence of a meteorite find at Kattamiya Desert
lying south east of Cairo by about 25 km in the Egyptian land. The field of occurrence of the meteorite is
well studied. Three big pieces of the meteorite are collected from the location weighing 750gm, 1000gm
and 1300gm. These occur beside a lot of many fragments (450 gm weight). The meteorite is assigned to the
group of stony-irons meteorites.
The stony surface of the meteorite is dark in color, with lustrous glassy material, full of pits, with a
pointed head and concentric flow rings. Moreover the surface represents a molten glassy outer skin. The
lower surface of the stone is composed mainly of an iron mineral sometimes in the form of moderate
globules. The lower surface takes a brownish color.
Mineralogy of the different objects of the meteorite was studied by x-ray diffraction. This study revealed
the presence of the following minerals; kamactie, troilite, pyroxene mineral mostly titanoferroaugite and a
calcic plagioclase feldspar. These minerals together characterise a special class of stony-irons group called
mesosiderites.
On the other hand, wet quantitative chemical analysis of the stony part of the meteorite revealed high
Al2O3, CaO, MgO and total Fe contents like Ca-rich achondrites. Therefore, the stony part of Kattamiya
meteorite much resembles the Ca-rich achondrites. This places the meteorite find among true meteorites.
Thus, the total evidence that comes from field mode of occurrence, hand specimen description, X-ray
diffraction of minerals beside chemical analyses of different phases of the find, all point towards a meteorite
find belonging to the group of stony-irons or siderolites.
This meteorite find we called El-Kattamiya meteorite or more simply Kattamiya meteorite or Kattamiyite
referring to the original place where it was first found.