[meteorite-list] Meteorite Paperweights

From: MeteorHntr at aol.com <MeteorHntr_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:11:55 EST
Message-ID: <cd8.4123350d.3684620b_at_aol.com>

In a message dated 12/24/2008 3:50:36 P.M. Central Standard Time, Impactika
writes:
Hello Steve, and all,

Next time you are in Fort Worth, you might ask Art Ehlmann to show you the
main mass of Somervell County.
When Oscar Monnig bought it, it was already a very old and weathered
pallasite, and he was adviced to have it encased in plastic to protect it. That did
not work for very long, and it just broke in pieces.
Too bad because it is a pretty pallasite.


Anne M. Black
http://www.impactika.com/
IMPACTIKA at aol.com
Vice-President, I.M.C.A. Inc.
http://www.imca.cc/


Hello Anne,

Yes I am aware of the Somervell County. It is a great story. As I
understand, Dupont Laboratories had invented this new stuff called plastic, and
Monnig heard about it. It might be that the Somervell County was the very first
thing ever encapsulated in plastic, or at least that new kind.

Of course, that was a huge entire mass with lots of rusting and cracking
going on before it was put in, which couldn't help from the inside. And of
course years of light hitting it would cause it to deteriorate from the exterior.
 

What I am thinking about is for thin slices of Brenham. I put a slice of
Brenham in some about 3 years ago, and it has been preserved perfectly since
then. Of course it could still start rusting inside at any minute. But it has
encouraged me that something like this might work for slices.

My question to the list was to ask to talk with anyone who has tried doing
something similar. It doesn't matter to me if the results were successful or
not, as long as I can glean some information from others experiments.

Obviously Monnig failed at his Somervell County experiment, at least in the
long run. Why that failed could be attributed to many things: 1930's plastic
quality, poor workmanship on the encasing, moisture in the rock, and even
that particular specimen. To say that one failure dooms ALL future attempts I
think is a little unscientific.

Steve Arnold #1

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Received on Wed 24 Dec 2008 11:11:55 PM PST