Tissint fell in a remote region in eastern Morocco near the Algerian border on July 18, 2011. It is one of the five witnessed Martian meteorite falls ever recovered, and it is the only one from which complete stones can be obtained. Local nomads spent several months tracking down the location of the fall; this stone was an early recovery picked up some time around new years 2011/12. This stone is a piece of the most pristine material from Mars on Earth.

The specimen being offered is a 27.103 gram ~85% crusted, oriented individual. The broken areas reveal the unique texture of this meteorite -- a fine grained matrix with scattered olivine phenocrysts that suggest that this meteorite formed much deeper within Mars than most other Martian meteorites. Its crystallization age has also been dated to approximately 500-600 million years, making it one of the older known shergottites. Nearly every stone from this fall exhibits some internal regions of black glass, which formed in the impact that knocked the meteorite off of Mars (this stone is no exception). The heat and pressure associated with the impact on Mars were so great that some portions of the meteorite were literally turned into glass.

The fusion crust of this stone is perfect and exhibits countless flow lines, ridges, and sharp points created by atmospheric sculpting.

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My name is Jason Utas and I have been collecting and hunting for meteorites with my father, Peter, since 1998. I am member number 7630 of the International Meteorite Collectors Association. Please visit our website, www.fallsandfinds.com for more information about us. I am currently an undergraduate studying geology and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.