[meteorite-list] Anomalous UNWA stone classification update

From: Michael Gilmer <michael_w_gilmer_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:42:29 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <589899.77060.qm_at_web58403.mail.re3.yahoo.com>

Greetings Listoids and Listettes!

The Saga of the Anomalous UNWA stone continues....

Several months back, I bought a bulk lot of UNWA meteorites from
Derik Bower and the runt of the litter is turning out to be the
star of the lot. :)

It's a 127 gram weathered stone that is an oblong fragment and it
had a unusual feature showing through the surface. The crust was
long ago sandblasted away, so this was not remnant crust. It
appeared to be something inside the meteorite that weathered slower
than the surrounding matrix, leaving this odd feature exposed.

I don't have a saw, so I mailed it to a knowledgeable friend with
a saw. He sliced it open and discovered several veins of metal
oxide inside, but apparently no traces of olivine. So, it's not
an old desert pallasite, but it may be a heavily-weathered
mesosiderite. Or? The stone was unremarkable at first, and
the odd feature was not very obvious. It was pass a casual
inspection as just another weathered UNWA chondrite - so much so
that I didn't bother to photograph it before sending it off. I
wasn't expecting to find much of interest inside. Well, it will
be in the mail back to me very soon. I am going to have it
classified. I'd like to ask the opinion of the group, that
based on this description, what class could this meteorite be?

Other things worth mentioning that may effect the class -

1) it has strong magnetic attraction
2) it has "one big honkin chondrule" noticeable inside in addition
to the oxide veins. (my friend's words)

Any guesses?

Regards and clear skies,

MikeG


.........................................................
Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
..........................................................




      
Received on Sun 15 Feb 2009 04:42:29 PM PST