[meteorite-list] Gold Basin

From: John Cabassi <john_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:39:37 -0800
Message-ID: <CAFBTX4y-nFCAQ09xiFfXJYWFeqWa1Vd2Fjb7a4GrZaFfw=p1-A_at_mail.gmail.com>

G'Day Larry
Congratulations. I first heard of this at the Tucson show at the
Meteorite Mayhem Bash. I was sitting next to Karen Ziegler chatting
when the announcement was made. I was totally excited and
congratulations also on the Harvey Award

Cheers
John

On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 9:23 AM, 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 09:39:37 PM PST