[meteorite-list] Oum Rokba

From: Prof. Zelimir Gabelica Université de Haute Alsace ENSCMu, <zelimir.gabelica_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:34:28 +0200
Message-ID: <20120801083428.aayrvxpy56cccksk_at_w3mail.univ-mulhouse.fr>

Hello Bob, Mike,

To my best knowledge, Oum Rokba is (or should be, or will be...?)
synonym of NWA 400.

My best source for now is my own writeup from my collection catalogue,
written a few years ago, saying that for "Oum Roka", one shound see
"NWA 400".

The "Oum Rokba" piece I got from Blaine Reed in early 2001 is
therefore (provisionally) referred to as "NWA 400".
Here is this writeup:

-------------------------

NWA 400 (synonym: ?Oum Rokba?) (Algeria, H5), found 2000; tkw:
Many at 100+ kg; coll. code: BR 01/362

History and scientific significance:
One of the last meteorites from Sahara having received a (formely
official) name, thus ?Oum Rokba?, meaning ?old woman?s knee? in Arabic
(see Met. Times, Dec. 2008) before the ?NWA nomenclature?.
(Oum Rokba should soon become a synonym of NWA 400, name still to be
confirmed as well)

Sample description:
Individual, 44.71 g, 45x35x15 mm, brown, 100% (wind-blown) crust,
irregular shape.
----------------

I realize my source is not reliable either though it could be
interesting to consult the Met Times article (that I don't have on
hand here).

Regarding "NWA 400", it is still provisional in the MetBull database,
with, as only indication: "found in Algeria, tkw >10,000 (g ?), 1000s
pieces found. Info: gives reference to our good friend Dean Bessey....

Bob, go ahead with this to explore more in depth the story.

Best wishes,

Zelimir

Prof. Zelimir Gabelica
Universit? de Haute Alsace
ENSCMu, Lab. LPI-GSEC,
3, Rue A. Werner,
F-68093 Mulhouse Cedex, France
Tel: +33 (0)3 89 33 68 94


Michael Farmer <mike at meteoriteguy.com> a ?crit?:

> Since the name Oum Rokba was never approved, the question seems
> needless. I only know what I was told at the very beginning of the
> NWA rush, there was no reason for them to lie, we asked where they
> were from, we were given that answer.
> I never went to the location. For an old weathered typical chondrite
> it was not in my often hurried schedules.
> Michael Farmer
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 31, 2012, at 6:30 PM, Robert Verish <bolidechaser at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> A question to anyone who has hunted meteorites in Morocco:
>>
>> Other than a Berber tribesman, has any meteorite dealer/hunter ever
>> found an Oum Rokba stone, I mean, really picked-up from the ground
>> in the actual strewn-field one of the "several hundred"
>> distinctive-looking, chondritic stones that were originally
>> recovered 12 years ago?
>>
>> I wrote an article back in Dec. 2008 about the Oum Rokba (H5)
>> meteorites, and I repeated the oft-quoted story about "stones
>> being found by a Berber native a few kilometers from an Oasis named
>> Oum Rokba." Since then, I've been asked by several people if I had
>> any direct evidence of that recovery and of its location, in order
>> to make that statement.
>>
>> The actual phrase that I remember being asked was, "Don't you think
>> that it is strange that a strewn-field the size of Oum Rokba (many
>> hundreds of stones), that it's actual location wouldn't be better
>> known? Even a couple square kilometers around the Oum Rokba
>> "oasis" isn't that large that it would forever hide that large of a
>> strewn-field, and by now, someone else must have discovered it's
>> location."
>>
>> Those questions posed to me were implying that, given the benefit
>> any "name" would give to the marketing of a meteorite, it should be
>> considered as too convenient, and that in order to accept the
>> location of this strewn-field it would require corroborating
>> evidence from an independent source/hunter. Also, that this notion
>> would probably be met with resistance, because preserving the
>> mythology would be considered more important than confirming the
>> topography.
>>
>> Personally, all I need is to have just one guy stand-up and say,
>> "Yeah, I found one of those stones there."
>>
>> Bob V.
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Received on Wed 01 Aug 2012 02:34:28 AM PDT