[meteorite-list] Announcing a New Planetary Find

From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Sep 7 16:07:40 2004
Message-ID: <033201c49514$f241ce60$6401a8c0_at_c1720188a>

Dear List,

It is with great pleasure that we announce a unique and before now
undiscovered type of lunar meteorite called NWA 3136.

NWA 3136 is a unique Lunar meteorite from the surface of the Lunar Mare
Basin. NWA 3136 is the only lunar meteorite in the world including those
found in Antarctica to be classified as a Mare Regolith Breccia. Only four
other Mare Basalt type Luniates have ever been found and they have been
classified as various types of basalt, some monomict, others polymict but
none a true regolith. In addition there are a few lunar meteorites that
are Mare-like but with some highland components. In our opinion and the
scientists who have looked at it, NWA 3136 the most important lunar
meteorite ever found. What makes this new meteorite so important is that
NWA 3136 has sampled several types of rocks and layers of the moon over
time, kind of like a Howardite is to an asteroid but with more gardening
(turning over of rocks). This complete meteorite weighed in at only 95.1
grams and was a perfect oriented shield. This world-class specimen hosts
several interesting and unique features including the following:

Vesiculated glass matrix
Trapped solar wind gases in vesicles
Very low Ti glass spherules of various colors
Agglutinates
Elemental metal easily visible to the naked eye
Minerals that have not been seen outside of the Apollo collection
No highland component
World's only oriented Mare Luniate
Greatest amount of different rock types sampled in a lunar meteorite

Link to Main Mass Image:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136MainMass.jpg

Link to Polished Surface Image Displaying Numerous Rock Types:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136PolishedSurface.jpg

Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Vesiculated Matrix:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136VesiculatedMatrix.jpg

Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Glass Spherules:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136GlassSpheres.jpg

Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Big Basalt Clast:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136BigBasaltClast.jpg

Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Melted Basalt Clast:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136MeltedBasaltClast.jpg

Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Big Granitic Clast:
http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136GranophyreBig.jpg

NWA 3136 is currently being studied by no less than five laboratories with
more coming onboard. Two former NASA scientists who studied the Apollo
lunar samples are part of the collaborative effort to investigate this
meteorite. Old NASA research protocols for the studies of Apollo Lunar
Materials have been implemented and a search is under way for possible new
minerals. Mare Regoliths are the best candidates to search for new minerals
because every Apollo mission where a Mare Regolith was sampled a new mineral
was discovered. This polymict regolith breccia from the moon is the most
complicated yet found so it may take years to discover what secrets lay
within.

With a Total Known Weight (TKW) of only 95.1 grams there is not much to work
with. The scientific community has been provided with a type specimen
deposit weighing 19 grams plus two thin-sections. In addition a 13 gram
complete slice has been provided for a long-term record setting Very Large
Scale Characterization. This is the largest surface area ever attempted on
any Mare Luniate. In order to preserve the orientation attribute, a Main
Mass of 41 grams has been set aside with no plans for further reduction. Add
in cutting loses and that leaves very little for private distribution. The
NWA3136 Mare main mass complements our NWA 482 Highlands main mass as both
are oriented and sample the two major classes of meteorites from the moon.
We are going to list 12 specimens totaling 2.2 grams of this exceedingly
rare material on ebay later this afternoon so keep an eye out if you are
interested. We would like to thank the University of Washington for
providing us with the False Colored SEM images. Please ask before utilizing
any of these images as the are copyrighted and we will gladly grant
permission.


Respectfully,


Adam and Greg Hupe
The Hupe Collection
Team LunarRock
IMCA2185
Received on Tue 07 Sep 2004 03:57:45 PM PDT