[meteorite-list] Lucerne Dry Lake mystery item revealed

From: Rosemary Hackney <ltcrose_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:52:12 2004
Message-ID: <003101c2426b$e5a93240$9376d6d1_at_default>

woohoo.... Why does that road into the mountains remind me of Groom Lake?

Rosie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matson, Robert" <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_saic.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 6:54 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Lucerne Dry Lake mystery item revealed


> 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
>
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Received on Mon 12 Aug 2002 09:51:08 PM PDT