[meteorite-list] Lucerne Dry Lake mystery item revealed

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:52:12 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4E2C1_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi All,

Back about two weeks ago I posed a question to the list asking how
many of you had paid a visit to Lucerne Dry Lake in southern California
prior to April 2002. A number of you replied privately, some who had
been there, some not. There were a number of guesses as to the mystery
item that I found there, but none close. And of those that had been,
none were aware of anything that they had left behind.

Since it appears that the individual who lost this item may not be
a member of Meteorite-Central, the time has come to spill the beans:
I found, of all things, a meteorite! Of course, meteorites are exactly
what I was searching for, so that shouldn't come as a surprise. But
this was a TRANSPORTED meteorite, more specifically a partslice.

Now I can understand someone taking a meteorite along with them while
hunting to use as a search image, but a small cut slice??? At the
time I found it, I didn't even consider the possibility. I thought
perhaps some kind of odd mechanical weathering had sanded a meteorite
down to a sliver. (Given the alternative explanation that someone
had dropped a partslice on the lakebed, and that I had somehow
managed to find it seemed to be the more absurd possibility.)

Given that no saw marks could be seen, I had to treat it as a
find. It received a field ID and a sample was broken off (not cut!)
for UCLA to analyze. Mind you -- we looked at this meteorite under
a microscope and aside from the obvious resemblance to a (weathered)
slice of meteorite, could find no evidence of it having been cut.

Fast-forward several months to the opening night welcome reception
for the Meteoritical Society meeting at UCLA. I brought a number
of meteorite finds along with me to show to colleagues, among them
this oddity from Lucerne. The sun was setting, but in the fading
light Bob Verish and Nick Gessler got to take a look at this find
under a 12x loupe that I had brought along. Lo and behold, with
the grazing light, there was just enough surface contrast that Bob
was able to detect the faint remnants of saw marks on the
less-weathered side. I looked, and sure enough they were there:
completely invisible except when viewed at grazing incidence.
I had myself a transport -- and probably an unintentional one at
that!

If any of you are curious to see the in situ find photos, I've
posted them at:

http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_a.jpg
http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_b.jpg
http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_c.jpg
http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_d.jpg

The first image shows the slice before it was touched, the
second after it was flipped over. The third is a close-up,
and the fourth shows the general area on the playa where
it was found. Obviously it would be nice to come full-circle
on this story and learn the identity of the one who lost this
slice, when they lost it, and most importantly which meteorite
it came from! It would make a humorous story for Meteorite
Magazine...

Best,
Rob
Received on Mon 12 Aug 2002 07:54:10 PM PDT