[meteorite-list] "Venus Stone" is not L6 (and not a Holbrook)

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:47:46 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <933844.45980.qm_at_web51702.mail.yahoo.com>

And Bob Haag was right when he said that his "Venus
Stone" is too old to be from the Holbrook fall.

For the longest time, I too, thought that Bob's
"Stone" was a Holbrook meteorite, until...

I was able to closely examine the "Venus Stone" when
it was on display at the Tucson Show a couple of years
ago. After the awe of having Bob Haag place into my
hands the most revered example of a beautiful
meteorite had subsided, I started to notice that the
exterior was more weathered than I had expected.
There wasn't much of a fresh fusion-crust. And then I
noticed that around the edges of the nose-cone there
were portions of the stone missing. You can imagine
my dismay when I discovered that the stone wasn't
"perfect". And where there were portions missing,
that exposed surface was definitely weathered.

My jaw dropped when I noticed that there were numerous
chondrules standing out in high relief on this
weathered surface. I realized immediately that this
stone was too low of a petrologic grade and too
weathered to be a Holbrook meteorite.
You see for yourself in this image:

<http://nuggetshooter.ipbhost.com/uploads/post-4-1122475180.jpg>

The fact that the "Venus Stone" is not an L6, and
therefore not related to the Holbrook fall, was for me
a "no-brainer". Then the idea that the "Venus Stone"
may be part of ANOTHER strewn field started to
intrigue me. And the idea that, if another stone
could be found/classified/paired to it, then the
"Venus Stone" could be spared the cutting of a type
specimen! Now that was even of more interest to me.

So, I researched this meteorite. But I discovered
that the actual finder and the real locality were
already known. And then I was told that the find
locality is surrounded by a National Park, The
Petrified Forest, which would complicate expanding any
possible strewn field. It's not that I would begrudge
turning over a meteorite to the Smithsonian, it's just
that I'm not sure that even the Smithsonian can remove
a meteorite from a National Park.

So, I started to lose interest and started to
reconcile that this would end up being just another
unclassified Arizona meteorite. Hopefully, someone
more local may get lucky one day and rekindle some
interest...
 
If you are interested, and before you head on out that
way, you should take a look at this satellite image:
<http://www.headquarterswest.com/listings/goodwater/sat.htm>

Good luck,
Bob V.

P.S. - you'll notice that I've avoided using the word
"Adamana", because that name has not been formally
approved.
Received on Fri 23 Feb 2007 02:47:46 AM PST