[meteorite-list] Ungrouped Achondrite Prices (NWA 7325 and others)

From: Carl Agee <agee_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 22:06:50 -0600
Message-ID: <CADYrzhqLshsSyVwZf9=2CC5CZ3A7W4CD5m9ygmKcxW6+KT-a=w_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Mike and All:

"Achondrite-ung" one of my favorite things! Also the enigmatic
groupings like ACA, LOD, WIN, BRAC, URE, fascinating! From what I have
seen and heard about NWA 7325 -- simply amazing. The problem has
nothing to do with these wonderful achondrites, the problem is our
ignorance of their possible parent bodies. Martian and lunar
meteorites are of the highest scientific value, not because they are
better meteorites, but because we know enough about their parent
bodies to make the meteorite - parent body connection and thereby they
become the equivalent of geological sample returns. If NASA hadn't
sent missions to the Moon or Mars we would most likely not recognize
these meteorites as lunar and Martian. So, the problem with Mercurian
meteorites is not whether they do or don't exist, the problem is our
fragmentary understanding of the planet Mercury and our inability, at
this time, to make the parent body - meteorite connection. Yes,
Mercury Messenger has given us new insight into the make up of the
Mercurian crust, but the data are simply still not good enough to be
useful for unequivocal meteorite matching. So even if we have a
meteorite from Mercury somewhere in the world's collections right now,
we won't know it until Mercury is better known. Part of the problem is
that Mercury possesses no true atmosphere. Remember, the strongest
evidence for martian meteorites being from Mars is trapped martian
atmospheric gases in the meteorites -- the ultimate fingerprint.
Interestingly, we may have a better shot at recognizing a meteorite
from Venus, since the Venusian atmosphere has been geochemically and
isotopically measured by NASA missions and spectroscopically from
Earth. For example, trapped Venusian atmosphere should have a
gigantically large ratio of deuterium to hydrogen. In the meantime,
there are other ways to think about parent bodies of achondrites --
identifying their meteoritic precursor material. For example, I
recently worked on achondrite-ung NWA 8186 that appears to be the
first example of an achondrite that is a very good match for having a
CK-chondrite precursor -- in other words, take a CK parent body,
igneously melt it, and the product is achondrite-ung NWA 8186. Hey,
who said the list was boring? Mike, great discussion topic!

Carl Agee

*************************************
Carl B. Agee
Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
MSC03 2050
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131-1126

Tel: (505) 750-7172
Fax: (505) 277-3577
Email: agee at unm.edu
http://meteorite.unm.edu/people/carl_agee/



On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 6:29 PM, Galactic Stone & Ironworks
<meteoritemike at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Listees,
>
> Can someone elaborate on why NWA 7325 and it's possible pairings are
> selling for $10,000/g in some cases? There is speculation that it
> originated from Mercury, but that is only speculation at this point.
> One can speculate anything. Heck, it might be from Alpha Centauri.
>
> There are 60 other ungrouped achondrites and some of them have very
> unusual characteristics. Why is NWA 7325 priced so high above the
> others? The low-TKW does not explain the price (maybe in small part),
> given the fact that pairings appear to be surfacing.
>
> This is not a criticism of any dealer or dealers. I am just curious
> how people have arrived at this price.
>
> Best regards,
>
> MikeG
>
>
> --
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Received on Thu 13 Mar 2014 12:06:50 AM PDT