[meteorite-list] I Need Help - L, H what?

From: bernd.pauli_at_paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:10 2004
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000003A00001DAF_at_paulinet.de>

Tom asked:

> Hello List, I am confused! Please help me out on this! An L is low and
> an H is high, right? If a meteorite is chocked full of visible metal can
> it be an L, or is it an H ?

Jeff kindly responded:

> Fresh H chondrites have 9-13 volume% metal plus sulfide, L chondrites have
> 6-7 vol% metal plus sulfide. But notice that a perfectly respectable H
> chondrite with 9% only has slightly more metal + sulfide than a perfectly
> respectable L with 7%. It's not always easy to distinguish on this
> basis. The quality of the surface can also affect what you see.

Tom, the presence of a lot of visible metal can be a deceiving criterion.
Lots of L or LL chondrites have an appreciable amount of visible nickel-
iron specks or flakes, others are very poor in visible metal as some of
this total iron may be "locked" in the silicates (olivine, pyroxene, etc.)

Best wishes,

Bernd
Received on Sat 03 Apr 2004 10:57:58 AM PST