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Re: Meteorites are just rocks



Well, I'll say one thing for Eric, he does generate much discussion.  This is
really helping me get to know the people on the list better.  No, I am not
taking this out of context.  I know he is somewhat of a nut, but a provacative
one.

I love meteorites too (and not for profit)!!!

Cheers,

Jeffrey Grantham



Tom <trandall@idsi.net> on 06/17/99 07:25:35 PM

To:   meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
cc:    (bcc: Jeffrey Grantham/Boulder/IBM)
Subject:  Re: Meteorites are just rocks





  Hi Calvin and list,

  Read on.....

At 05:26 PM 6/17/99 -0700, you wrote:
>What's all the excitement about meteorites? Maybe there's just a lot of
>enthusiastic hype about selling and keeping-up-with-the Jones's. 'My
>Gibeon's more gnarly than yours.' Someone tell me why you think its
>worth giving meteorites a second thought. What makes them click for
>*you*?


   The excitement of meteorites to *me* is mostly in the form of awe, these
rocks come from other worlds and are not of this Earth. Other bodies formed
out of the nebulae that became our solar system. They've traveled vast
distances and survived their fiery entry into our atmosphere. Cosmic
visitors that have found a new resting place. True extraterrestrial material.
   It's not "trying to keep up with the joneses" to me. I find them
facinateing objects. I don't buy them for investment purposes, I buy them
because they facinate me. To be able to own pieces of asteroids or Mars or
the moon just blows my mind!
  Think of it a minute or 2, some of us own a piece or pieces of MARS and/or
the MOON. MARS OR THE MOON!!! Can you imagine?! This is truely amazing to me.


>Rare? Hundreds of tons have been identified. There must be a thousand
>times as much sitting out there waiting to be found. Doesn't sound so
>rare.

   True, but out of what, over 6 billion people in the world the number of
people that own or are facinated by these special rocks is very small.
Oh, their rare in a different way. Several ways if you think about it.

>Few reliable source fields or methods to retrieve them?  Modern
>acceptance of their nature came late but then lot's of meteorites showed
>up with farmers, and Nininger...  then there was Antarctica.  Then
>Sahara.  Think the new places and ways of extracting them are at end? I
>doubt it.

   I doubt it as well. There are MANY places left unchecked so untold
amounts will no doubt be found far into the future.


>Valuable?  Why?  Are they an industrial ore? Are they prettier than gem
>quality stones? Do they teach us how to grow more crops? Scientific
>value maybe? Can you prove any have fossils from elsewhere? You mean we
>have to send a probe to check that out? Could have thought of that
>without meteorites.

   Valuable in a different way. There are MANY Earth rock and minerals that
LOOK more amazing than most meteorites but they didn't come from outer space
(even though the Earth did, yes, I know!).


>So a meteorite is a stone that fell to ground later than sooner. The
>Earth is just one big meteorite.

  Yes, but a different meteorite. I guess you can say that all Earth rock
and minerals are meteorites too...to another planet. Yes, our rocks are
special too but native to us.

>How important is it that this H5 has chondules this size, or that H5 has
>a different color matrix? You've seen one H/L/5/6 you've seen 'em all. I
>want to hear why that's wrong. So there are new meteorite types found
>now and then.  What's so special about a brachinite anyway, has it
>changed our picture of the solar system? Never heard of one from another
>part of the galaxy.


  I'll let the pros field that one!


>Perhaps you like meteorites because you think they look wild? Maybe you
>like fusion crust and think it is the neatest thing?  Maybe I think it
>is waste surface that been's destroyed.  Maybe you like being able to
>slice them thin and show off lots of surface area and features?  Maybe I
>think they're more apt to deteriorate all in the name of show.

  I think all of those are valid reasons.


>So Tut wore LDG and had a dagger. We can make nicer tools, and a lot of
>ornanments today. Tektites and meteorites carry some special meaning
>beyond the casual scientific, beyond the immediate sales price, and
>(maybe even) beyond the sheer joy of being different.

   There are LOTS of different reasons, all valid.


>I know meteorites are more than  Pet Rocks circa 2000 to members of the
>list. I'd like to hear more of the stories "why", more of the reasons
>for caring.


   Good post and questions!

Regards,
Tom Randall

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