[meteorite-list] In medias res: Morocco Meteorite Meeting

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 30 05:41:53 2006
Message-ID: <003301c69c29$65bf0ed0$4f41fea9_at_name86d88d87e2>

Hi list,

well, rumours, gossip, hearsay...I read the abstracts of the topics there
and, after the IMHO incompetent statements, we all have to face sporadically
by a very few scientists, mainly in media, who have no experiences in
hunting and the NWA and Oman situation, but are blaming commerce to plunder
irretrievably the scientific information and the monetary value of the
patrimony of the desert -
I'm content, that there is one unagitated and factual abstract concerning
the NWA situation by Devouard, Denise, Messaoudi et al.,
which maybe could mitigate the second abstract by Mostefaoui, Bounatiro,
Bourout-Denise, which in a vehement way accuses dealers and scientists
likewise to loot the meteoritical treasure of Algeria.
All other abstracts about desert meteorites aren't tangent to the topic of
the commercialism in the NWA-field and don't mention a possible opposition
between science and private trade, nor do they contain any recommendations
to create a legal status, no matter of which kind, for the desert stones.

The abstracts are found here:
http://www.fsac.ac.ma/meteorite/Casablanca_abstracts[2].pdf
Abstract # 9024 - "What shall we do with all those meteorites from Sahara"
And
Abstract # 9019 - "The most recent El-Idrissa fall, and since then more and
more unlocalized finds".

Here the text bodies.

And folks, as we, private collectors, suppliers, hunters, dealers - who are
said to be solely responsible for that desert mess and, I fear, convictable
and causative, that such a huge variety and mass of meteorites were
recovered in a frequency and a volume, which in regard of the short time is
absolutely unique in the 200 years lasting history of meteoritics, but, if
one hears some assertations, seems to be for some scientists no reason for
elation, but rather a sad and enormous calamity
and as we of course are laymen and as collectors, dealers and hunters and as
accused ones of course not worthy to move a foot in the holy halls of
science
and thus never any representative of us, even not those directly from those
fields, which are so eagerly discussed also by such experts, who rather
unwillingly like to leave their snug bureaus, will be heard,
let's discuss the abstracts here on the list, cause we haven't any other
place, sniff.
(and then we have to collect some money to sent an IMCA director there to
produce our point of view there... Huhuhu I imagine Norbert and Christian
singing in front of the closed fortresslike hotel doors: We shall
overcohoohohhme... and throwing achondrites after the police cavalry)
  
Yayaya, of course the latter paragraph is polemic and provocative, don't
take it to serious ;-)
but necessarily so, cause I want to generate more postings about this topic
than about e.g. the epistemological aspects of ebay feedbacks.

Here now for the additional dramatisation first the incendiary speech about
the Algerian stones, followed by the more composed abstract, which contains
some direct answers on the questions posed in the first one.

Buckleboo!
Martin

  

"9019
Introduction: Algerian desert meteorites (ADMs) are one of the
important contributors to the world meteorite collection that improves our
knowledge of the origin of the solar system and evolution of stars and their
environments. While managing other meteorite collections is well controlled,
Saharan meteorites and especially the Algeria ones, are out of control and
most of them are handled by dealers. Here, we present an overview of the
scientific and commercial interests of ADMs.

Overview: According to MetBase [1], Algerian desert count 613
documented meteorites, representing more than 15% of the worlds total
registered meteorites from hot Sahara. The ADMs (excluding NWA) count 2
SNCs and one lunar. Only two meteorites are known to be preserved in
Algeria, El-Idrissia (L6) is in the Centre de Recherche d?Astrophysique et
Astronomie et Geophysique (CRAAG) Algiers, and Fortflatters (non-class.)
is in the Saharan Museum in Ouargla, southwest of Algeria.
Meteorite Falls and the El-Idrissia Story: Among the ADMs, seven
are observed falls. The first observed fall is the Aumale (L6) meteorite
(fallen
the same day as Shergotty in India, in August 25, 1865). The most recent one
is El-Idrissia. It is also an L6 and it fell on March 10, 1998 [2]. While
the
oldest fall Aumale is composed of two stones of 25 kg each, the total number
of stones and weight of El-Idrissia is still controversial. According to our
records, which are contradictory to what has been registered [1], 4 pieces
of
the meteorite were collected by the habitants of the region, one of which is
a
single piece of 12 kg and it disappeared after it was brought by the
Algerian
local authority to the CRAAG. We still do not know where this stone is.
Algeria, a Closed/Open Meteorites Market: El-Idrissia is probably
one of the many meteorites that crossed the borders to land in one of the
overseas meteorite collections. Despite an Algerian law explicitly
preventing
exportation of meteorites, the collect of ADMs is still active. Within the
last
10 years, their flow significantly improved in order to supply meteorite
markets. The trading was potentially ensured along the Algerian/Morocco
borders. Northwest Africa (NWA) meteorites are one of the most concerned
by this traffic. To gain profit from these meteorites, scientists preferred
to
deal with the merchants rather than defeating them. However, since these
meteorites were mostly collected by inexperienced persons that usually work
under difficult conditions, many scientific information are lost. Among the
ADMs, about 25% are NWA mostly of unknown locations and where records
of desert alteration conditions are inaccessible. This is also true for many
other meteorites collected in different desert locations (Libya, Oman).
Meteorites are part of our scientific patrimony; they deserve more
consideration and a better preservation for the succeeding generations. The
meteoritic community is most qualified to find solutions to this dramatic
situation. Two scientific stations are ready to collaborate in Algeria, in
Algiers, and in Oran."
 

"9024
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH ALL THOSE METEORITES FROM
SAHARA?
B. Devouard1, M. Denise2, M. Messaoudi3,1, D. Belhai3, B. Zanda-Hewins2,
and C. Perron2. 1Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, UMR CNRS 6524, 5 rue
Kessler, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. E-mail:
devouard_at_opgc.univbpclermont.
fr. 2Laboratoire d?Etude de la Mati?re Extraterrestre, CP 52,
D?partement d?Histoire de la Terre, Mus?um National d?Histoire Naturelle,
57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France. 3Universit? des Sciences et Technologie
Houari Boumediene (USTHB), BP 32 El Alia, 16012 Algeria
Thousands of meteorites are currently collected from hot and cold
deserts every year. By providing new samples of rare groups, or even
previously unknown types of meteorites, these systematic collections greatly
improve our knowledge of the solar system. As meteorites from Antarctic
collections are carefully documented and managed, most meteorites from
Sahara are collected by dealers. Systematic collection campaigns for
commercial purposes started in Sahara about 1989 in Libya and Algeria, then
spread to nearby countries such as Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, and Niger.
The most remarkable samples of Saharan meteorites are usually singled
out close to the source and eventually reach laboratories for
classification. On
the other hand, many meteorites are marketed wholesale at low prices, most
of them ordinary chondrites. In the absence of laboratories capable to
handle
the classification of those hundreds of new samples, many stay unreported.
Among those, however, many interesting samples probably remain
unrecognized.
>From a scientific point of view, Saharan collections have to deal with a
basic problem: the precise find locations are often unknown, or at least
unreported. This prevents the studies of strewn fields, of the effect of
terrestrial alteration (which depends on local geographical factors), and
makes pairing very delicate.
Saharan meteorite collections also raise an ethical issue. Some
countries, such as Algeria, do not allow the exportation of meteorites.
Moreover, there are currently no market nor scientific facilities for
meteoritical studies in north African countries. As a consequence, many
stones collected by nomads in the whole Saharan region are currently
marketed in Morocco, and eventually reach the European or North American
markets and scientific institutions.
So, what should we do with all those meteorites from Sahara? Should
museums trade at the market price, or ignore this sudden bounty of new
meteorite finds that (arguably) are of lower scientific interest than
observed
falls? Systematic collections in deserts skim out meteorites that fell over
thousands of years in these regions. This currently apparent abundance of
meteorites from hot deserts should therefore be considered worth preserving
as a patrimony (scientific, educational, and aesthetic). This is a
challenge..."
Received on Fri 30 Jun 2006 05:41:42 AM PDT