[meteorite-list] Double your meteorite sales!

From: Jason Utas <meteoritekid_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 22:04:10 -0800
Message-ID: <AANLkTineMLw98YpvUSWc7qwE2hjRaROzQXR_Od2t+bHb_at_mail.gmail.com>

> Besides the fact that CDs that large are MUCH more rare.

Saying that something is "rare" doesn't mean it won't turn up on ebay.
 Our 36 kilogram Canyon Diablo was listed as a Campo a number of years
ago by someone brokering an old collection.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MeteoriteKid/Irons#5417262621708828690

Those two large holes still have remnants of the large graphite
inclusions that weathered out to form them. Typical of Canyon Diablo.
 John and Dawn Birdsell purchased another "Campo" from the same seller
that turned out to be Canyon Diablo - they cut it up and sold it as
such.

> The LARGE
> regmaglypts is the big tell. Canyon Diablos don't typically have large
> smoother thumbprints like Campos do which is caused by ablation.

Canyon Diablos usually have larger regmaglypts than Campos. I know
what you're trying to say -- that the Campos tend to have smoother
contours -- but as Buchwald would tell you in volume one of his set,
Canyon Diablos have undergone a greater degree of weathering,
resulting in the formation of sharp ridges where smoother, ablative
ridges have weathered away, and regmaglypts have been deepened and
widened (see picture above).

> CDs are
> more "shrapnel" like, with sharp edges, ridges, and points. Typical of an
> impact iron.

Most Canyon Diablos were affected little, if at all by the impact.
If you can find a picture of the etched surface of a Canyon Diablo
that shows actual physical deformation (compare to Henbury here:
http://www.pallasite.ca/meteorites/meteoriteDetails.cfm?function=large&meteoriteNo=302&specimenNo=331
), I'll pay you good money for it. I've been collecting meteorites
for over ten years, and the closest I've seen is heat-distortion - not
mechanical bending or stretching as one would see in a simple
explosive impact like Sikhote-Alin, Gebel-Kamil, etc. The reason for
this is that the Canyon Diablo impact didn't produce much, if any,
actual shrapnel. The energy released was enough to vaporize the
primary impactor, and the pieces recovered all (yes, likely *all*)
spalled off prior to impact. Nininger related the finding of
metallic/oxide slugs with incorporated limestone inclusions that he
found on the rim of the crater - these are likely the closest things
that Canyon Diablo produced to shrapnel.

So, to condense - Canyon Diablo probably didn't produce shrapnel.
Sharp edges as seen on Canyon Diablos are typical of weathering.
Hence most Canyon Diablos, while they have sharp edges, aren't shaped
like shrapnel (compare to Chinga, Sikhote-Alin, Henbury).

Here's a photo of a "shocked" Canyon Diablo. I see minor
recrystallization due to heat-alteration, leading to a washed-out
pattern. I see no mechanical alteration due to shear/crater-forming
type effects.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canyon-Diablo-Iron-Meteorite-261g-Shocked-end-cut-rm60-/320606489124?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa5a2ca24#ht_500wt_1156

And most Canyon Diablos show no shock effects whatsoever:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canyon-Diablo-Meteorite-etched-Full-slice-320-9-grams-/230552115823?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35adfa1a6f#ht_500wt_922

Well, aside from Neumann bands, but those are present due to
extraterrestrial shock, and are present in almost all iron meteorites.

> Campo del Ceilo meteorites are different in that MOST pieces are highly
> thumbprinted/ablated, evidencing their high altitude breakup and ablation
> which smoothes the outer surface.

Yep.

> Not an from explosive impact/explosive event which rips the iron to pieces
> like the Canyon Diablos.

Nope. Again, it's due to weathering. Which is why, when you cut into
Canyon Diablos, you see no traces of mechanical shock. You can't turn
the outside of an iron into shrapnel without doing it to the inside as
well.

The trouble is that I've *never* seen a Canyon Diablo that, when cut,
looked as though it was a piece of shrapnel. Never, ever. I've seen
thousands of slices, ends, etc.

Yikes. Beat that horse to a pulp.

Regards,
Jason


> On 11/27/2010 7:42 PM, Stuart McDaniel wrote:
>>
>> I am going to ask a dumb question, how do you know it is a campo??
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ruben Garcia
>> Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2010 7:54 PM
>> To: Meteorite List
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Double your meteorite sales!
>>
>> It's easy!
>>
>> Just sell your Campos as Canyon Diablos.
>>
>> Like this guy!
>>
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/Whopper-20-2-Pound-Canyon-Diablo-Meteroite-9162-grams-/220700202995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3362c1d7f3#ht_500wt_1144
>>
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Received on Sun 28 Nov 2010 01:04:10 AM PST