[meteorite-list] Gold Basin

From: John Cabassi <john_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:50:14 -0800
Message-ID: <CAFBTX4y3o_mLEiYS+g+TT7XHnzBC+_nnAs_64qNTyM6A9giU4w_at_mail.gmail.com>

Wow, doesn't pay to have a fast finger or completing a sentence.
So I'll correct my mistake and crawl into the corner...

Congratulations Joe and also for your Harvey award

Cheers
John

On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 6:39 PM, John Cabassi <john at cabassi.net> wrote:
> 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 09:50:14 PM PST