[meteorite-list] Franconia Area Meteorites

From: tracy latimer <daistiho_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:12 2004
Message-ID: <SEA2-F6723nXrRbhO4H00013697_at_hotmail.com>

Have other samples of meteorites collected from Franconia Wash been turned
in for classification? Does this mean that Franconia will become
Franconia(a), to be followed by Franconia(b), Franconia(c), etc.? That's
one thing that has puzzled me; with the several different types that have
come out of Gold Basin, why are they all still lumped together as just "Gold
Basin"? Several people have said there seem to be at least 2, maybe 3
strewnfields there, or at least it seems to be a big collecting point.
There should be enough data there to designate at least a couple of
different falls/finds.

Tracy Latimer



>Hi List,
>
>John is right, as there are many new chondrite finds
>in the Franconia area. I along with Mike Miller have
>been hunting the area for many months, long before it
>was common knowledge to the meteorite community. We
>have found many meteorites, but just as important we
>have found many different types of meteorites. Mike
>and I have personally submitted for classification
>over 10 different chondrite "types" ranging from an LL
>to an H. And yes we have even found some Iron
>meteorites! I feel confident in saying this because
>the Arizona State University has been involved with us
>in the classification process since the beginning and
>therefore this is not merely our opinion but also the
>opinion those at Arizona State University. As many of
>you know the classification process can take some time
>but please be patient as these classifications are
>forthcoming.
>
>During the entire time we have hunted this area we
>have only come across a few grams of Bob Verishs'
>Franconia meteorite ( fortunately for us we actually
>had a slice of his Franconia to compare to our finds )
> Because of this we can only assume that there is
>much less Franconia meteorite than there at first
>seemed to be. That is not to say that there isn't a
>lot of Franconia, indeed there may be, but maybe not
>as much as some think. In fact, Bobs Franconia may
>not even be the most abundant meteorite out there, as
>we have many large pieces that are NOT like Bobs
>Franconia.
>
>I have heard it said once or twice that this may be
>another gold basin, let me be the first to say I
>highly doubt it. First of all it is obviously unique
>because of the many types of meteorites being found.
>Jim Kriegh ( one of the original gold basin strewn
>field finders) upon hunting with us even dubbed it
>the " Meteorite Graveyard" as he too found several
>different types of meteorites. Also in my humble
>opinion there is not all that much left. This is an
>area where some of the more skilled hunters can and
>have gone days without the slightest signal on their
>detector. Many hunters will tell you there are
>precious few meteorites still left.
>
>To this day we continue to hunt, and even though we
>don't find much anymore, it is still exiting. Think
>about it, these are NEW ARIZONA METEORITES! Whether or
>not they end up being classified as Franconia or any
>one of the many other provisional names we have
>chosen, they simply are a unique and rare treasure.
>
>
>Sincerely,
>Ruben Garcia and Mike Miller
>
>
>
>
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Received on Fri 09 Apr 2004 05:17:54 AM PDT