[meteorite-list] holy grail of martian meteorites

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:17:40 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <562757.69146.qm_at_web51707.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

Amazing how fast time flies.
Doesn't seem that long ago that a slice of LA 002 was
considered unattainable, and was spoken of as the
"holy grail" of basaltic shergottites.

Yet it's still a unique and UNPAIRED martian
meteorite.

But that was Mars rock #15 then, and this is now...

Had to cut a slice of this Los Angeles stone for some
researchers, and look what we found:

<http://marzmeteorite.tripod.com/la2/la2lath56.jpg>

and here is that same slice, but swabbed in alcohol:

<http://marzmeteorite.tripod.com/la2/la2lath56.jpg>

The alcohol darkens the groundmass, causing the
pyroxene grains to stand out in contrast. The long
pyroxene lath in the lower right corner is over an
inch long (~2.5cm)!

Has anybody seen a longer crystal in a Mars rock?

Curious,
Bob V.
Received on Tue 11 Dec 2007 07:17:40 PM PST