[meteorite-list] Chinguetti mystery - the one that got away

From: Zelimir Gabelica <Z.Gabelica_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:27 2004
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.20040224184246.008cebf8_at_pop.univ-mulhouse.fr>

Hello Lars,

I presume there should exist various documents about Chinguetti here and
there, mostly probably summarized (and translated in English) in current
textbooks or web sites dealing with meteorites in general (I can't check
right now).

However, the best document is a booklet written (in French) by the well
known meteorite specialist Brigitte Zanda and (the late) naturalist and
edventurer Theodore Monod (both from NH Museum in Paris).=20
The title is "Le Fer de Dieu" (God's Iron) and it deals with their joint
expedition on the site organized some 12 years ago (or so, unfortunately I
don't have now this book on hand by now).=20
All is said and fully documented about the real history and the legend
behind Chinguetti.=20
The conclusion is that the legendary "iron mountain" is indeed a huge block
of hematite.=20
But Chinguetti meteorite (mesosiderite) also exists (current data available
in many common documents or tables) and was found not so far from the "iron
mountain" real location, to which it is apparently not at all related.
For those wishing to know more detail on this book, I can probably provide
the E-mail address of Brigitte off list. I am confident she should most
probably be happy to help more.

Best wishes,

Zelimir

At 19:16 24/02/04 +0100, you wrote:
>Hi all
>
>I just taped a documentary film about the Chinguetti meteorite from the
>national geographic chanal.
>
>I heart that reasently the mystery was solved when it turned out to be a
>giant block of hematite.
>
>Anyone who can confirm that ?
>maybe even tell me about a website with pic=B4s or so ?
>
>All help is apreciated.
>
>Best wishes
>Lars Pedersen
******************************************************
Prof. Zelimir Gabelica
Groupe S=E9curit=E9 et Ecologie Chimiques (GSEC) - ENSCMu
3, rue A. Werner
F-68093 MULHOUSE Cedex, FRANCE
Tel: +33 (0)3 89 33 68 94
FAX: +33 (0)3 89 33 68 15
e-Mail: Z.Gabelica_at_uha.fr
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Received on Tue 24 Feb 2004 01:42:46 PM PST