[meteorite-list] NWA 3159 - Vesicular, plutonic eucrite with (pre-)terrestrial crystals?

From: Gary K. Foote <gary_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 09:44:46 -0500
Message-ID: <45A8AA0E.12394.B47929_at_localhost>

Bernd,

They are awesome photos. I urge everyone to take a look. They are full size images at
the following URLs;

http://www.meteorite-dealers.com/images/NWA3159CRYSTALx16-01.jpg

http://www.meteorite-dealers.com/images/NWA3159CRYSTALx32-01.jpg

Gary
http://www.meteorite-dealers.com

On 13 Jan 2007 at 13:59, bernd.pauli at paulinet.de wrote:

> Hello Greg, List, and Eucrite Buffs,
>
> I recently bought Greg's last piece of NWA 3159, a 10.7-gram individual.
> This is no.3 in my collection because there are already two breathtaking
> cut slices clearly showing the two distinct lithologies:
>
> 1. the black, shock-melted, vesicular areas
> 2. the "normal" brecciated eucritic areas
>
> I was wondering if I could also find the vesicular texture in an individual,
> and, I did find such areas. But, then, I held my breath when I also spotted
> a beautiful crystal aggregate of...maybe olivine or pyroxene under my micro-
> scope at 16x and 32x magnification!
>
> Yes, I know that olivine is not usually found in eucrites but it has been
> found in small amounts in NWA 011, in Macibini, in NWA 049, in NWA 1000, etc.
>
> I would like to invite those who have acquired such individuals from Greg and
> who can examine their pieces under high(er) magnifications to closely examine
> their specimens and maybe find such crystalline aggregates. Any input would
> be greatly appreciated!
>
> Mount Tazerzait and Baszk?wka have taught us that such crystals can survive the
> meteorite's fiery descent through our atmosphere (if properly shielded). But
> these crystals in my NWA 3159 individual are not really within the meteorite's
> interior matrix but protrude from one of its vesicular cavities, in other words,
> they may have been exposed to the atmospheric forces *IF* they should be pre-
> terrestrial.
>
> Would do you think? Terrestrial or pre-terrestrial (= meteoritic)? And what are they?
> Quartz, pyroxene, olivine??? I will ask Jeff Kuyken, Mark Bostick, or Gary (or, maybe, all
> of them ;-) to host the pictures I've taken so you can see what I am talking about.
>
> Best eucritic and
> crystalline wishes,
>
> Bernd
>
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Received on Sat 13 Jan 2007 09:44:46 AM PST