[meteorite-list] Mohs hardness and meteorites

From: Jimski47 at aol.com <Jimski47_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 14 May 2011 07:06:28 -0400 (EDT)
Message-ID: <100aa2.429c8d24.3affbc34_at_aol.com>

In a message dated 5/9/2011 4:24:28 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
meteoritemike at gmail.com writes:
Hi List,

Has anyone ever put together a hardness list for meteorites in
relation to the Mohs scale?

I know that irons, stony-irons, friable types (some achondrites, LL's)
will vary greatly in hardness. But what I am curious about is stony
type meteorites, specifically the chondrite family. For example,
let's take the "typical" H5 chondrite - one of the most common of all
meteorite types. Where does the H5 fall on the Mohs hardness scale?

Up until the time I started cutting and polishing meteorites, I
assumed that an L5 would be "softer" than an H5. But, I have run
across some L-chondrites that are very very hard and require the same
amount of sanding/polishing work as some H-chondrites. I am assuming
this is because of the individual mineral compositions of the
meteorites in questions, and not so much the petrologic type. So am I
right to assume that stony meteorite hardness is not dictated solely
by iron content?

Best regards,

Mike Gilmer
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Hi Mike,
 
Yes I believe your right to assume that iron content of a chondrite does
not dictate it's hardness. An iron meteorite has a hardness of 4-5 which is
what you would get if the test point of the chondrite was on a iron flake.
It could be higher if the test point was in the matrix and that would depend
on the composition of the matrix. Feldspar which has been found in
meteorites has a hardness of 6 and diamond is a 10.
 
Jim Konwerski
Received on Sat 14 May 2011 07:06:28 AM PDT