[meteorite-list] What to do?

From: dean bessey <deanbessey_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:01 2004
Message-ID: <20040113001500.69667.qmail_at_web12306.mail.yahoo.com>

You know, there are more things to consider when
deciding what to send in than might be evident right
away.
Of course the real answer to your question is that you
want a representative sample so that you know exactly
what it is and get a proper classification for your
rock.
But its not always easy (Especially with the naked eye
or a magnifying glass) to decide what the
Representative sample is. NWA869 and NWA1109 are good
examples. NWA869 has been classified as L3.8,L4,L5,L6
amd L3.8-6. There is so much different things in the
rock that you have a hard time geting everying
represented in a single thin section a inch long.
Thats why the disagreements among scientists as to
what the classification is. The scientists can only
classify a one inch piece of the rock. Now NWA1109. It
(Or paired NWAs) is sold as a Eucrite or Howardite. If
it has 10% diogenite material it is an howardite. If
less than 10% then eucrite. So depending on the sample
that you send will depend on the final classification
that you get. If there is a concentration of diogenite
material in one side of the rock you get a
classification on the whole thing as a howardite if
you send in that section. I know of a couple dealers
who have complained about the classification that they
got and then showed a nice piece of the meteorite to
support their contention that it should be an L3
instead of an L5 for example. Had they given a nicer
piece of the meteorite they might have gotten the
better classification. Of course they wanted the nice
piece to sell or for their collection.
So you can pick out the nicest part and get a better
classification but then you lose the nicest part for
yourself. Sending a poorer specimen lets you keep the
nice part but then it is a lesser classification and
worth less should you decide to sell it.
But there is something else to consider to. Meteorite
scientists are for the most part a victim of
government budget cuts and many of them do
classifications as an extra for their own interests.
So if you send a really nice specimen that he really
enjoyed studying he might be more inclined to do
another classification for you in the future when you
want another one done. He/she also has a better chance
of finding something special in the meteorite
increasing the possibility of meteorite knowledge. But
the downside is that you lose the pretty part.
So once again the proper answer - when you send the
rock for classification you want to know exactly what
the proper classification is. And the way to do that
is to send a proper representative sample that is a
true miniture representation of the entire rock. Then
you will know what the proper classification is and
you know the true classification of your rock. Of
course that is not always easy to do - especialy since
there could be something special in the middle of the
rock that hasnt been cut into yet.
Hope this helps
Cheers
DEAN





  









--- Tom aka James Knudson <knudson911_at_frontiernet.net>
wrote:
> Hello List, I got an offer to get an NWA
> classified, and need to send in
> about 10g's of the 54 gram speciman. My problem is,
> this meteorite is cut in
> two and has four polished surfaces. This meteorite
> has so many things going
> on in it, I can't figure out what to send. Seems
> like each surface shows
> something different and I would not want anything to
> be missed in it's
> classification. This is one neat meteorite, unlike
> anything I have seen.
> ( I have looked at thousands of pics). I figured,
> maybe I should just send
> the whole thing, but I really want to bring it to
> Tucson to get opinions on
> it. If I send it off now, I may not see it for a
> year or more, where is the
> fun in that?
> How do you all decide on what part to send in?
> Thanks, Tom
> Peregrineflier <><
> IMCA 6168
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>
http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list


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Received on Mon 12 Jan 2004 07:15:00 PM PST