[meteorite-list] Mercury Fragments on earth (not)

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 22:46:48 -0500
Message-ID: <77E47A58C3324461AF86C94790F7D9C1_at_ATARIENGINE2>

Richard, List,

The timing is perfect. 1981? It was January 1982
when John Schutt found an odd Antarctic meteorite,
Allan Hills 81005. At the Smithsonian, Brian Mason
thought it resembled some rocks brought back from
the Moon by Apollo, and it was recognized.

A few years later, Yamato 791197, found in 1979 in
Antarctica was recognized as a Lunar, so when Dodd
wrote that in 1981, there was already a collected,
catalogued Lunaite waiting for someone to notice it.

As of late 2010, about 134 lunar meteorites have been
discovered, representing more than 50 separate falls
with a TKW of 46 kg, and around one in a thousand
new falls that are collected is a lunar.


Sterling K. Webb
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Montgomery" <rickmont at earthlink.net>
To: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>; "Michael Fowler"
<mqfowler at mac.com>; <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler at mac.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 10:18 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Mercury Fragments on earth (not)


> Interesting to note: I've just re-re-read Robert T. Dodd's
> METEORITES, A Petrologic-Chemical-Synthesis published 1981...and as
> early as the Introduction (page 9) the concept of lunar meteorites was
> at that time completely ruled out:
>
> "Although returned samples confirmed that the lunar maria consist of
> basaltic rocks, lunar basalts differ sufficiently from analogous
> achondrites in composition and age to rule out a common sourse
> (Section 8.1), and other lunar rocks are completely different from
> known meteorites. Some meteoritic material is present in the lunar
> regolith, but the converse is not true: There seems to be no lunar
> component in terrestrial meteorite collections."
>
> WOW! As recently as only 30 years ago, with advanced analysis,
> meteoritic specimens were un-notoiced.
>
> List: I found this early edition (awesome book) by asking everyone to
> recommend a source for meteoritic chemistry/petrology and it has been
> a gem to read, but as well to witness the changes since.
>
> Of course, I will look for further editions. Time-Machine!!!
>
> I'd love further refernce sources, so please chime in.
>
> -Richard Montgomery
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler at mac.com>;
> <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Cc: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler at mac.com>
> Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 6:22 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Mercury Fragments on earth (not)
>
>
>> There was a time when you could say: "The fact that
>> Lunar meteorites have not been found on Earth is
>> prima facie evidence that there are none."
>>
>> There was a time when you could say: "The fact that
>> Martian meteorites have not been found on Earth is
>> prima facie evidence that there are none."
>>
>> Humans have stared at both and had no idea of what
>> they were looking at. Martians were frequent enough
>> to get and maintain a class all their own for centuries
>> before we knew, and Lunars we probably just tossed
>> over our shoulders without a thought.
>>
>> I say:
>>
>> This is a time when you (or I) can say: "The fact that
>> Mercurian meteorites have not been found on Earth is
>> prima facie evidence that we can't recognize them!
>> We don't know what they are. We are probably quite
>> wrong about what to expect."
>>
>>
>> Sterlng K. Webb
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler at mac.com>
>> To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Cc: "Michael Fowler" <mqfowler at mac.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 7:45 PM
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Mercury Fragments on earth (not)
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0801/0801.4038.pdf
>>>
>>>> They concluded that there should be a number of meteorites of
>>>> Mercurian origin already here -- around 1/3 to 1/2 the number which
>>>> originated from Mars.
>>>
>>> The fact that Mercurian meteorites have not been found at 1/2 to 1/3
>>> the number of Martian meteorites is prima facie evidence that their
>>> calculations are wrong.
>>>
>>> Mike Fowler
>>> Chicago
>>>
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>
Received on Thu 04 Aug 2011 11:46:48 PM PDT