[meteorite-list] Gold Basin

From: Gmail <mendy.ouzillou_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:59:11 +0100
Message-ID: <9BEA0088-62BF-4AFC-BCF1-7B41ECFB83EE_at_gmail.com>

Very, very well done!

Congrats to Joe and thank you both for showing us that what can be achieved when one is really committed to a pursuit.

Mendy Ouzillou

On Feb 26, 2015, at 6:23 PM, Larry Atkins via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:

Hello List,

As you may have heard, there has been a major development concerning
the Gold Basin strewn field. Of course, it's possible this is not GB
but the evidence looks very promising.

Three years ago Joe Franske ventured to the north side of Lake Meade in
search of the big end of Gold Basin. According to Joe, it took him 6
tries to get to the right location, but once he did, it took him only 3
hours to find a meteorite. This is a monumental feat to say the least.
He brought me in on the project last March and I take no credit for
this discovery. Sure, we all had an idea that the strewn field crossed
the lake, we all drew lines, but only one guy had the steel to go get
it done. Hats off to Joe.

Joe and I have decided we are pretty much done out there for now. We
documented well over 100 pounds, most of which was found on the
south side of Jumbo Peak. Last week I extended the field another 5.75
miles with 2 finds on the north side of Jumbo, including
a 34 pound stone that was broken into many pieces. We decided to give you guys
some details regarding the find
locations, hence this message, but in return we would like to know
about
any finds you make so that we may continue documenting the strewn
field. Jim Kreigh, John Blennert and Twink Monrad did a fantastic job
documenting in the past and we would like to do the same. I know there
are some hunters out there that will not share and so be it, but most
of us are
good people and I would expect some cooperation for the good of the
larger picture. Please send your reports to me so that I can share them
with the scientist involved with our work.

Joe found the first stone on the south side of Jumbo Peak and that is
where the majority of the finds were made. The area is only about a
mile wide and I highly doubt that defines the outer limits of the
field, however, to go farther east or west is difficult due to terrain.
Go onto Google earth and you will see the valley just south of the peak, and north of the park boundary,
this is where you start.

On the north side of Jumbo Peak you will find most of the area too soft
for meteorite recovery. Decomposing granite has likely buried the
stones too deep for detection. In my mind it's a small miracle that I
found the 2 stones on that side. To put the difficulty into
perspective, we spent 36 man days to locate the 2 stones and out of
four hunters I was the only one to score. That place will hand your
butt
to you on a platter, as they say.

As a side note;
If you decide to give this place a try there are some things to
consider. To get to the south side of Jumbo you will need a 4 wheel
drive and it takes about 3.5 - 4 hours once you leave Mesquite. There
is no phone service and the road out wants to eat your truck! If you
go, plan to stay for several days at least, it's a lot of work and
expense just for a day or two.

If you have any specific questions feel free to email me.

Good luck and fair sailing to all who go!




Here's the low down on the science so far.

I submitted samples from my 16+ lb. stone (found March, 2014) to UCLA
this past summer.
It did come back L6 as can be seen below. Dr. Kring wants to do
more work including cosmogenics and such, on several different samples
to help come to a conclusion as to whether or not it is indeed Gold
Basin .

When asked how I know it's GB I say that the classification is
consistent, they look the same in hand, on the exterior and the
interior, and they are in line with the logical progression of the
known field. Sure, it could be something different, but simply put,
the easiest, most obvious and logical answer is usually the right
answer. I'd be very, very surprised if it was something else.

UCLA (Rubin, Breen)

"received August 18, 2014, 2 pieces, 23.7 g
L6 S4 W1
olivine: Fa 23.9?0.2 (n=15); low-Ca pyroxene: Fs20.3?0.3 Wo1.6?0.2
(n=12)

plagioclase grains are typically 60-100 ?m in size. The rock exhibits
weak mosacisim but does not contain maskelynite."



Sincerely,
Larry Atkins
 
IMCA # 1941
Ebay alienrockfarm
 



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Received on Thu 26 Feb 2015 12:59:11 PM PST