[meteorite-list] A few odd questions on The Meteorite Men

From: Notkin <geoking_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:48:44 -0700
Message-ID: <CA00BAB8-9CA3-472C-88FF-8E0F6263AC1C_at_notkin.net>

> The commentator made it sound like there were two separate falls of
> the Brenham pallasite in the same strewnfield. How can one area be
> more recent than another of the same fall?

Dear Carl:

Good morning from Tucson. Thank you for watching the show and for the
feedback. I really enjoyed the segment with Meenakshi as well. The
reference collection at ASU is outstanding and it is a treat just to
get to visit.

Carl, I just want to be sure you are clear that we filmed at two
separate strewnfields. Brenham and Alpha are entirely different
pallasites. Alpha is just a code name we used because we were still at
the second site at the time of filming, and wanted to complete our
work there before announcing any details.

There is a very brief comment about the Alpha crystals. The narrator
states, if I recall correctly: "the Alpha stones made the tumultuous
journey to Earth without shattering." In another segment that
unfortunately did not make the final cut, Meenakshi talks about how
the olivine crystals in the Brenham pallasites are believed to have
been shocked and shattered in space (possibly by asteroidal
collisions) rather than as a result of impact on the Earth and/or
subsequent weathering. With only 43 minutes of actual air time, once
you discount the commercials, there is a lot of information we want to
include, but there were some other informative segments that also had
to be left out. It is very useful to hear feedback regarding parts of
the show that were not clear to you, and I'll forward your comments to
our director and producer.

So, the conclusion is: Brenham crystals were shattered at some point
in the distant past (in space) as a result of impact(s); the Alpha
crystals were not. That is why the Alpha crystals lend themselves to
being faceted into gemstones. We therefore infer that the Brenham
pallasites' parent body experienced some form of significant impact;
the Alpha pallasites' parent body did not.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. It's really
helpful to receive some constructive criticism. Oh, and you were
right, the bottom of the big Brenhams were about 4 to 5 feet deep. I
always tease Steve because I think it's a more exciting experience to
dig them out by hand, but he's busy and wants to bring in the
backhoe : )


Respectfully,

Geoff N.

www.aerolite.org
www.meteoritemen.com
www.meteoriteblog.org
Received on Thu 20 Aug 2009 01:48:44 PM PDT