[meteorite-list] Main mass of Oum Dreyga (Amgala) recovered !

From: philippe thomas <thomasmeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:14 2004
Message-ID: <7369143.1082098941415.JavaMail.www_at_wwinf0801>

Dear Adam and List Members,

I can quite believe that the main mass of this meteorite is weighing over 2=
.5 kg (If it=92s the=20
case, I ask to everybody to excuse me for the title of my first message) bu=
t I have never=20
heard about this piece and nobody has shown a picture of it.

I know, of course, that this meteorite (Oum Dreyga/Amgala) is already being=
 studied at NAU,=20
but as it often arrives, this meteorite will be analysed by several laborat=
ories. I think that=20
this is a good thing and that the comparison of different studies is always=
 rich in learnings.

It=92s sure that it is an H chondrite, the exact type will be determinated =
by the analyses.

I can=92t believe that a professionnal can confuse a L chondrite with a H c=
hondrite and a=20
weathering grade 2 with a weathering grade 0.

There is a lot of swindles in this stuff, and perhaps the ill-intentioned p=
eople would like to=20
sell Zag pieces for pieces of the new fall. But again, it=92s seems to me r=
eally improbable to=20
confuse them. Zag meteorite looks really special and is recognizable at the=
 first glance. Even=20
the pieces recovered three or four years ago don=92t have the sight of a me=
teorite which is on=20
Earth since few months.

The one who has had the fortune to handle some meteorites which fell on Ear=
th few times=20
ago, known the =AB mint =BB appearance of them. This appearance can=92t be =
confused with the=20
ones which had been exposed to weathering for some times. I have had the oc=
casion to=20
handle a nice piece of Ben Sour recovered 15 months after the fall. This pi=
ece was already=20
affected by the desert varnish.

Best Regards,
Philippe

> Dear Phillip and List,
>
> The main mass is larger than 2.5 kilograms and Amgala is currently being
> studied at NAU which should release results soon. Three different type
> specimens have been submitted and it looks like it will classify as an=20
> H3.8
> rare Polymict Breccia with exotic clasts. Be careful about find=20
> location as
> we reported the strewn field was between Amgala and Oum Dreyga the very
> first post we made on the subject. An unrelated L5, W2 black=20
> chondrite find
> was being mixed in at first skewing the strewn field results. Also=20
> some Zag
> is reappearing and being sold as Amgala confusing the issue even more if
> that is possible. After looking at several pieces of Amgala and Zag=20
> it is
> easy to tell them apart. Zag has some extremely dark lithologies, the=20
> crust
> is different and is a regolith breccia.
>
> Hope this helps clear up some confusion,
>
> The Hupe Collection
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "philippe thomas" <thomasmeteorites_at_wanadoo.fr>
> To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 11:46 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Main mass of Oum Dreyga (Amgala) recovered !
>
>
> Dear List Members,
>
> Our team has recovered from a soldier from Western Sahara an amazing
> oriented stone with
> flow lines (99% crusted) weighing a little bit more of one kilo. This=20
> stone
> seems to be the
> main mass of this fall.
> Mich=E8le Bourot-Denise, from the MNHN of Paris) is actually analysing a
> sample of this fall
> but it appears clearly that this is an ordinary H chondrite.
>
> Some dealers are using as provisional name for this fall =AB Amgala =BB,=
=20
> but the
> strewnfield is
> closer to Oum Dreyga. Amgala is 250km far away.
>
> You can see this piece of Oum Dreyga in my website www.meteoritica.com
>
> Best Wishes
> Philippe Thomas
>
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Received on Fri 16 Apr 2004 03:02:21 AM PDT