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Re: Need clarification on El Hammami
Mal and Ava Bishop schrieb:
> To The List; I would like someone to please clarify something for me.
> I purchased a specimen of El Hammami recently and I am confused about
> when it was actually discovered and what country exactly. The piece I
> got says it was a fall and the date was January 19 or 20, 1995. This
> same info is given on the website from whom I purchased this
> meteorite, as well as the locality being Western Algeria. Now, I have
> seen on another dealer's website that El Hammami was a fall dated
> August 10, 1997 in Mauritania, Africa ...
> Thanks in advance - Sincerely, Mal
Hello Mal, Ava, and List!
MAPS 33-4, Suppl., 1998, pp. A221-A239:
In 1997 January, an unknown mass of material, possibly broken apart from
a single large stone, was sold to meteorite collectors by nomads near
the town of Mhamid, Morocco; this material has since been resold under
the names Mhamid and Hamada du Draa. The nomads claimed that this
meteorite was found to the south, in Algeria (ca. 29° 50' N / 005° 50'
W), in the direction of a fireball seen in 1995 January. In 1997
September, the same nomads shipped a fragment of a meteorite that they
claimed was seen to fall on 1997 August 10 to Mr. Edwin Thompson. In
1997 November, Thompson traveled to Mauritania and collected six
fresh-looking stones totaling about 200 kg (individual masses of 80, 51,
30, 26, 8, and 4 kg) at the base of the El Hammami Mountains in
Mauritania (1000 km southwest of Mhamid, Morocco), probably in the place
where they fell; fragments of these have been sold by Thompson and other
dealers under the name El Hammami. Classification and mineralogy of El
Hammami stones (A. Rubin, UCLA): olivine, Fa18.8; pyroxene Fs16.7Wo1.4;
shock stage S2; contains metal veins; petrologic type 5. Classification
and mineralogy of Hamada du Draa stones (D. Weber, Mün): olivine,
Fa19.2; pyroxene Fs17.4; shock stage S2; contains conspicuous metal-rich
veins; petrologic type 5/6; some of the material appears weathered and
rusts easily, but the bulk is quite fresh. Specimens from El Hammami
stones: about 100 kg, Thompson; type specimen, UCLA. Specimens
originally called Hamada du Draa are now scattered in private
collections, and some may remain in Morocco; type specimen, about 1 kg,
Mün.
Because all of the above-described material seems likely to represent a
single fall, the name El Hammami shall be the official collective name.
Mhamid and Hamada du Draa should be considered only as unofficial
synonyms for El Hammami. The total known mass of material is probably
about 240 kg.
(Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 82, 1998 July, A222)
Best regards,
Bernd
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