[meteorite-list] Meteorite or Meteorwrong?

From: Mark Bowling <minador_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 21:04:12 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <628314.32243.qm_at_web54401.mail.yahoo.com>

Well you guys probably know better than me - I don't follow the list that closely and wasn't familiar with your experience, so I thought I'd throw those guesses out to help. It sounds like you've done your homework. I'm definitely interested in hearing about what you learn about this stone. Since you've done so much weeding out of junk, I would say it's worth sending it in to a testing site.

It would be nice to take a look in person (any of those stone...). I liked those links by the way - very interesting post, thanks for bringing it up.

Something that always amazes me is how there is so much variety in terrestrial rocks. I confident that space rocks have some surprises still to come. Never a dull moment...

Carl, do you ever do any hunting around Tucson?

Mark,
vail, AZ

--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Meteorites USA <eric at meteoritesusa.com> wrote:

> From: Meteorites USA <eric at meteoritesusa.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite or Meteorwrong?
> To: cdtucson at cox.net, "meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 11:23 AM
> Mark, Carl, List,
>
> I've scoured the web looking for photographs of andesite
> and see "some" resemblance but not something conclusive for
> identification of this stone. Though it does looking
> similar. I'm not asking if this is a metoerite, I'm asking
> if it's NOT a meteorite, what is it?
>
> As we know fusion crust is one of the biggest
> identification factors considered in the ID of meteorites.
> (I can see where this is going) and there are literally
> hundreds of examples of different textures, and thicknesses,
> and visual variances in fusion crust that it's not funny.
> Which is why we have other tests we use to properly identify
> a rock as a meteorite.
>
> Now before all you guys jump on me for asking the dreaded
> "Is this a meteorite?" question or yell at me about how to
> identify a meteorite, I'd like to clarify a few things. This
> is a "ROCK" to me, nothing more. I've examined literally
> thousands of meteorites and thrown away tens of kilos of
> terrestrial stones that somehow got mixed into batches of
> meteorites I've purchased. So the probability of this ROCK
> being a meteorwrong is there.
>
> When you consider the sheer numbers of meteorites that I've
> examined, it's no wonder that from time to time I will come
> across a stone like this that perplexes me and makes me say
> "What the heck is that?". I have two good sized drawers FULL
> of meteorwrongs that I look through every now and then just
> to see if I can pull out a few real meteorites as my
> knowledge of meteorites grows.
>
> Here's a NICE meteorite I recently found in my meteorwrong
> drawer:
>
> EXTERIOR: http://www.meteoritesusa.com/images/odd/odd-1e.jpg
> INTERIOR: http://www.meteoritesusa.com/images/odd/odd-1a.jpg
>
> I get a whole bunch of odd rocks, and only post to the list
> when I can't find an answer myself. Believe me I look for
> answers long before I post any photos of meteorwrongs.
> Here's some examples of some that I've either never posted
> and/or only asked privately for advice on.
>
> SAMPLES OF ODD ROCKS: http://www.meteoritesusa.com/odd/meteorwrongs.htm
>
> The point is this new ODD ROCK is just that. Odd. If anyone
> can tell me what it is, or perhaps show me some comparable
> photos that would be great.
>
> This stone http://www.meteoritesusa.com/odd/?
> was in a batch of meteorites I purchased. I can guarantee
> that if you were to hold this stone in your hand and look at
> the "crust" that seems to on this piece, you'd say "Hmmm"
> too. The photos though good, do not do justice to it, and I
> imagine that' why people don't go around identifying
> meteorites from photos... ;)
>
> Regards,
> Eric Wichman
> Meteorites USA
>
>
>
>
>
> cdtucson at cox.net
> wrote:
> > -Mark,
> > This is one of the things I miss most about David
> Kring being out of the Biz of classifications. He was the
> one that was always willing to take the time to show you and
> explain exactly what you were looking at. He is with NASA
> now But he used to frequent the Tucson show when he lived
> here.
> > To your other points; It seems to me the question was
> "is this a meteorite"? IMHO I see a rock that could be one
> if it came from space. So, is that fusion crust or not?
> David showed me multiple examples of Desert varnish It
> actually looks very little like fusion crust. Desert varnish
> is very thin and being just a residue of manganese it is
> very dull or flat black and rarely shiny. Whereas fusion
> crust always has some heft to it. you can easily see real
> thickness on a cut section. It is always a measurable
> thickness where Desert varnish requires a microscope to see
> it's thickness. Another imposter is Magma stuck to the
> outside of the rock. Magma is usually too thick to be fusion
> crust but again fairly easy to recognize once a you have
> seen the difference in person. To this point I wish Science
> would recognize that some of us do know this and would never
> confront them unless we had considered these factors. So, I
> ask is this fusion crust I see? Where was it found? Was it
> on the living room floor under a big hole in the roof or was
> it in a field with no other rocks around? Mars for example
> has plenty of basalt and andesite. IMy 2 cents.
> > Carl Esparza
> > IMCA 5829
> >
> >
> > --- Mark Bowling <minador at yahoo.com>
> wrote:???
> >> I was mostly going by color.? Basalts tend to
> be darker, and granitic rocks are very light in color.?
> But it's really hard to look at photos...? Having it in
> hand would be much easier (a necessity really).
> >>
> >> I would be interested in learning what a
> professional would consider when faced with such a
> rock...? It would be cool if someday the IMCA could
> host an ID workshop, maybe one year at Tucson or one of the
> European shows (where you're guaranteed a group of possible
> participants).
> >>
> >> Mark?
> >> --- On Wed, 5/20/09, Michael Fowler <mqfowler at mac.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>? ???
> >>> From: Michael Fowler <mqfowler at mac.com>
> >>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite or
> Meteorwrong?
> >>> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> >>> Cc: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler at mac.com>
> >>> Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 7:20 AM
> >>> Most andesites have
> >>> phenocrysts.?? This one doesn't.??
> Still could be
> >>> andesite, but maybe not.
> >>>
> >>> Mike Fowler
> >>> Chicago
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> Mark B.>>I'd have to say andesite
> (definitely
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> not granite). <<
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> Well...after some page turning and
> googling etc, I
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> have to now agree with
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> Mark that this rock is probably some sort
> of
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> andesite...and definitely not
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> granite. I've never seen so many different
> rocks that
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> I formerly simply
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> referred to as granite. :O) I haven't
> found a totally
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> matching photo of
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> andesite to the photo eric referred to,
> but the
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> literature gave me the impression
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> that andesite is what he has or is at
> least a good
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>> guess.
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>> GeoZay
> >>>>
> >>>>? ? ? ???
> >>>>> Looks like a fine grained basalt
> covered with
> >>>>>? ? ? ?
> ???
> >>> desert varnish.
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>>> I see no fusion crust (flow lines
> etc.) and no
> >>>>>? ? ? ?
> ???
> >>> regamaglypts. In the
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>>> cut surface, no metal, no chondrules,
> and no heat
> >>>>>? ? ? ?
> ???
> >>> affected zone.
> >>>? ? ???
> >>>>> Mike Fowler
> >>>>> Chicago
> >>>>>? ? ? ?
> ???
> >>>
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> >>>? ? ???
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>
>
> -- Regards,
> Eric Wichman
> Meteorites USA
> http://www.meteoritesusa.com
> 904-236-5394
>
>
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Received on Thu 21 May 2009 12:04:12 AM PDT