[meteorite-list] Unidentified mineral (was "Is this a meteorite or just a weird ro ck?")
From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:17:42 2004 Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4EFE5_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01C3BDC4.131D5EFC Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi David, > I found this out of place rock in the South-Eastern Oregon desert a couple > months ago. It is very heavy and has an extremely weak but present attraction > to magnet. It doesn't look like any of the meteorites I've seen but the magnetic > attraction and the rounded surface crust make me wonder. What do you think? It's hard to tell too much from a few pictures, but your rock specimen nevertheless looks familiar to me -- I found a similar-looking rock a couple years ago. High density, low magnetic attraction. I knew it wasn't a meteorite (mine cut very easily, producing inky-black powder that stains), but was curious to figure out what it was. Does yours streak black? (And I mean REALLY black.) See if you can estimate its density. The best match I could come up with for mine was pyrolusite (manganese oxide). The other possibility for yours is a manmade slag (as others have mentioned). There are hints of iridescence in 4 of your 5 images which might help in narrowing the field of candidates. --Rob ------_=_NextPart_001_01C3BDC4.131D5EFC Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.3810.1700" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>Hi David,</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=878542919-08122003> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>> </SPAN>I found this out of place rock in the South-Eastern Oregon desert a couple</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>></SPAN> months ago. It is very heavy and has an extremely weak but present attraction</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>></SPAN> to magnet. It doesn't look like any of the meteorites I've seen but the magnetic</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>></SPAN> attraction and the rounded surface crust make me wonder. What do you think?</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></SPAN><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>It's hard to tell too much from a few pictures, but your rock specimen nevertheless</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>looks familiar to me -- I found a similar-looking rock a </SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>couple years ago. High</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>density, low magnetic attraction. I knew it wasn't a </SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>meteorite (mine cut very easily,</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>producing inky-black powder that stains), but was </SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>curious to figure out what it</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>was. Does yours streak black? (And I mean REALLY black.) See if you can</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>estimate its density. The best match I could come up with for mine was pyrolusite</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>(manganese oxide).</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>The other possibility for yours is a manmade slag (as others have mentioned).</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>There are hints of </SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>iridescence in 4 of your 5 images which might help in</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=878542919-08122003>narrowing the field of candidates. --Rob</SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------_=_NextPart_001_01C3BDC4.131D5EFC-- Received on Mon 08 Dec 2003 02:47:13 PM PST |
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