[meteorite-list] NEW Ocate, NM Iron Classification & Specimens - AD

From: Greg Hupe <gmhupe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 18:18:06 -0400
Message-ID: <0307C5F1B97544F58264A79EE12E0C40_at_Gregor>

Dear List Members,

I would like to announce a newly-approved iron meteorite found in New Mexico
in 1986 and has just been approved. It is a IAB-MG (Main Group), coarse
ochtahedrite and is named "Ocate" after the nearest town to where it was
found. It will be in the online database soon and will be published in MB96
(Sept, issue MaPS). It wasn't until 2008 that they finder approached me with
the single 6.4kg stone that the classification process began. I went to the
find site last fall with the person who found it to take GPS coordinates,
photograph the area and to hunt for more if there were any to be found. We
didn't have much time to hunt at that time so we did not find any others.

Here are a couple of links to give you an idea of how nice Ocate is (see all
available specimens below classification below). This was cut and prepared
by one of the best meteorite craftsman in the business!

Polished and etched face of a 314g complete slice:
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00002.jpg
Ocate, New Mexico sign:
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/OcateSign.jpg
The find site of the 6.4kg Ocate iron:
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/findsite.jpg

Getting to the find site is treacherous and a 4-wheel drive vehicle with
high clearance is required! It took us about three hours after leaving the
paved road to get to the site up the mountain on a road that was more like a
crater-ridden trail with large boulders in most places and swampy mud in
others. To successfully hunt the site would require camping for a week,
there is no way to drive up and down the mountain each day and get enough
hunting hours in to make it worthwhile. There are also lots of elk hunters
during hunting season so anyone who wants to give it a go, be careful!

Submitted and approved classification for "Ocate":
Ocate
36? 17.72' N, 105? 2.90' W

Mora County, New Mexico

Find: 1986

Iron (IAB-MG), coarse octahedrite



History: This single 6.4kg mass was found by a local New Mexico hunter in
1986. Knowing it was different from the surrounding rocks and had an odd
appearance (the face of a bear), the hunter took it home and set it aside
with an odd assortment of 'collectibles' while hunting and mountaineering
over decades in the New Mexico area. The owner contacted G. Hupe in May
2008 for verification of the find, which was confirmed by study of the type
sample at the University of Alberta.

Physical characteristics: A single stone weighing 6402 grams with virtually
no apparent fusion crust, yet also lacking progressed terrestrial
alteration, which contributes towards its dark brown metallic appearance
with well defined regmaglypts.

Petrography: (C. Herd, N. Bruemmer, UAb) A 5 x 7 cm polished and etched slab
reveals Widmanst?tten pattern with an average bandwidth of 1.4 ? 0.2 mm, few
areas of plessite, and numerous inclusions. A 1 cm ellipsoidal graphite
nodule and several smaller inclusions of graphite, troilite and
schreibersite are associated with polygonal kamacite on one portion of the
slab. Smaller, mm-scale elongate inclusions of troilite are oriented
parallel to kamacite lamellae where the Widmanst?tten is better developed.
Terrestrial oxides decorate fractures within a few mm of the exterior
surface.

Geochemistry: Bulk Composition: INAA data (J. Duke, UAb): Ni = 6.99 ? 0.05
wt%, Co = 0.466 ? 0.004 wt%, Ga = 71.9 ? 0.3 ?g/g, Ge = 271 ? 6 ?g/g, Ir =
2.25 ? 0.04 ?g/g, Au = 1.60 ? 0.03 ?g/g, As = 15.2 ? 0.3 ?g/g, Cu = 119 ? 11
?g/g, W = 0.87 ? 0.08 ?g/g, Re = 0.22 ? 0.02 ?g/g (uncertainties 1s, 68%
confidence level).

Classification: Iron meteorite, IAB main group, coarse octahedrite, minimal
shock, minimal weathering.

Type specimens: 97.58 g slab and a 3.2 g interior piece, UAb, main mass, G.
Hupe.




I have only 12 specimens out of 15 that are available, here is the list
which also shows the thickness of each piece:

Ocate, New Mexico IAB-MG iron meteorite
910g end cut
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/nm910a.jpg
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/nm910b.jpg

322.6g cs 4mm thick
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00001.jpg

314g cs 4mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00002.jpg

211.6g cs 3.5mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00003.jpg

208.2g cs 4mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00004.jpg

191g cs 4mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00005.jpg

168.6g cs 2.5mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00006.jpg

163.8g cs 2.5mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00007.jpg

162.9g ps 6.5mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00008.jpg

162.8g cs 3.5mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00009.jpg

130g ps 5-7mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00010.jpg

4.5g ps (unpolished) 5mm
http://www.lunarrock.com/ocate/specimens/dsc00011.jpg
cs - complete slice
ps - part slice

I am asking just $4.00/g plus shipping, so if you are interested, please
contact me Off-List. Thank you!

In addition to these beautiful Ocate specimens, I have another batch of eBay
auctions ending tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27th). Many are still at just 99
cents, so more excellent deals will be had this week by bidding with me,
NaturesVault. Click here for my current eBay auctions:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnaturesvault

Best regards,
Greg

====================
Greg Hupe
The Hupe Collection
NaturesVault (eBay)
gmhupe at htn.net
www.LunarRock.com
IMCA 3163
====================
Click here for my current eBay auctions:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnaturesvault
Received on Tue 26 May 2009 06:18:06 PM PDT