[meteorite-list] Its official! NWA 6291 "The King of Angrites" for sale - AD

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:06:08 -0400
Message-ID: <AANLkTildBoItNnqbS7aC6IBASqhq-DqMegNN9pn7zmYA_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Greg, Jason and List,

Well, regardless of what the parent body is, that is a spectacular meteorite.

Congratulations are in order again for Greg - you hit the Moroccan
Lottery with that one. :)

I am very curious about the parent bodies of all meteorites, and I
wish we knew exactly where all of the meteorites in our collection
came from. But, lacking definitive parent-body data on a given
specimen does not make it less interesting. Wherever this bizarre
angrite came from, it must be a very strange place.

What if, an angrite like this one was an inclusion in a larger angrite
mass? - thus explaining it's affinity to angrites and it's exotic
composition - perhaps Greg got lucky and this mass was ejected or
seperated from a larger angritic body that is more in-line with what
we would expect from an angrite.

Best regards,

MikeG
http://www.galactic-stone.com

On 7/21/10, Greg Catterton <star_wars_collector at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I agree that the Mercury connection is up in the air at this point, but its
> a neat idea of the parent body.
>
> As for the Translucent crystals, I am talking about being able to show
> something like this:
> http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/jedisdiamond/Angrite657gt2.jpg
> http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/jedisdiamond/Angrite657gt1.jpg
> http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/jedisdiamond/36gd.jpg
>
> and 1cm crystals like this
> http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c165/jedisdiamond/Angrite2.jpg
>
> Understand, I am not putting down any other angrite, I just think that this
> one is a really unique type from a unique class that offers a bit more then
> others that I have seen. This is something that many have told me.
>
> And the price... its LESS then the WI fall was selling for! how can you
> argue with that?
>
> Greg Catterton
> www.wanderingstarmeteorites.com
> IMCA member 4682
> On Ebay: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/wanderingstarmeteorites
> On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WanderingStarMeteorites
>
>
> --- On Wed, 7/21/10, Jason Utas <meteoritekid at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Jason Utas <meteoritekid at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Its official! NWA 6291 "The King of
>> Angrites" for sale - AD
>> To: "Meteorite-list" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 8:13 PM
>> Hello Greg, All,
>> I managed to turn up these pages:
>>
>> http://www.meteoritestudies.com/protected_DORBIGNY.HTM
>>
>> http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/nwa-2934-angrite-meteorite-possible-nwa-2999-3164-1
>>
>> http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/pdf/1876.pdf
>>
>> So, NWA 2836, 2999, 3164 (all three supposedly paired),
>> D'Orbigny, and
>> Asu88 all display similar translucent crystals.
>>
>> Angrites are some of the rarest material on earth - that
>> should stand
>> alone. Trying to put one in some way "above" the
>> others doesn't make
>> much sense to me.
>>
>> Without getting into this too deeply - researchers have
>> been trying to
>> find a meteorite from another one of the terrestrial
>> planets (other
>> than Mars) for decades.
>> Trying to cram a square peg into a round hole ain't the way
>> to do it.
>>
>> http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1995Metic..30..269L
>>
>> http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1995LPI....26..865L
>>
>> http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20070021589_2007019150.pdf
>>
>> In my opinion, it's a little much to claim that a meteorite
>> came from
>> a single parent body based only three main points:
>> 1) Both are depleted in sodium and are highly refractive
>> (so were
>> other parent bodies that formed in the region).
>> 2) There's an observed feature (corona around a plagioclase
>> crystal)
>> that may have been formed by tectonic action on its parent
>> body...or
>> some other form of decompression or change in conditions
>> while
>> crystallization was taking place...
>> 3) And, yeah, they're from a differentiated body.
>>
>> http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2006/pdf/1344.pdf
>>
>> To be frank, the arguments *against* the origins of
>> Angrites being
>> Mercury are significantly better.
>> 1) They cooled too soon for them to be form Mercury.
>> 2) They have too much iron.
>> 3) The scarping on Mercury isn't present in large enough
>> examples to
>> explain the features observed in Angrites.
>>
>> The things that rule a Mercutian origin out for Angrites
>> are much more
>> basic, sweeping sort of problems. Their general
>> composition and
>> crystallization ages are *wrong,* based on our
>> understanding of how
>> things formed in the early solar system and the composition
>> of
>> Mercury's crust (this is big-picture stuff). And
>> compare that to the
>> fact that we have two chemical/petrographic features that
>> suggest that
>> they're from Mercury; the whole differentiated body thing
>> seems kind
>> of overblown at this point. We now know of *many*
>> ungrouped
>> achondrites that appear to have come from large
>> differentiated bodies.
>> Very circumstantial evidence.
>>
>> In my opinion, it's like selling pieces of martian
>> meteorites under
>> the banner of "remains of life may have been found in ALH
>> 84001, so
>> this meteorite I'm selling you may contain traces of
>> martian life."
>>
>> I mean, I guess you could claim that...and yet, reputable
>> dealers don't....
>> I have the feeling that this whole 'Angrites are from
>> Mercury' problem
>> is getting overlooked a bit because there's no media frenzy
>> of 'LIFE'
>> surrounding it. Either way, the critical literature
>> seems to carry
>> *significantly* more weight, from a relatively objective
>> observer's
>> point of view.
>>
>> I've heard similar comments from various well-regarded
>> researchers.
>> Check your May 2008 Meteorite magazines.
>> Melinda Hutson notes that "Four of the eight arguments
>> given in the
>> original abstract on NWA 2999 actually argue against
>> Mercury as the
>> Angrite parent body." In fact, she goes on to
>> repudiate every single
>> point, relegating them to, at best, circumstantial
>> evidence.
>>
>> In my opinion, dealers need to stop pushing Angrites as
>> being from
>> Mercury. They're rare enough to warrant being paid
>> whatever for them
>> anyways - compare them to NWA 011, Ibitira, etc. But
>> cooler because
>> we know more about them.
>> Insubstantial claims regarding their origins need not be
>> made.
>>
>> Yep, got carried away. Well, they're damn cool and I
>> know more about
>> them now. Time well spent.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Jason
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 2:21 PM, Greg Catterton
>> <star_wars_collector at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Hi to all, I am happy to announce that NWA 6291 is an
>> awesome and very rare angrite.
>> >
>> > I have several very nice slices for sale including one
>> of the 4 translucent slices. After extensive research, I
>> have not been able to come across any angrite that has
>> offered translucent crystals and slices like you would find
>> in a pallasite other then this one.
>> >
>> > This is likely paired with NWA 2999, but due to its
>> unique appearance, it stands above and beyond 2999 and any
>> of its pairings enough to raise the question of if it was
>> actually paired or not. NWA 2999 and its pairings are also
>> unique to the angrite class, which makes this one even more
>> special!
>> >
>> > Then there is the possible Mercury connection... how
>> cool is it that this material is thought to be ejecta from
>> the planet Mercury?
>> >
>> > You can see some of the material available for sale
>> here:
>> > http://www.wanderingstarmeteorites.com/Angrite_Meteorites.php
>> >
>> > I also have a very limited amount of thin sections
>> that are very generous is size. Rather then offer a small
>> limited sample for section, I choose to get nice portions
>> that showed the incredible nature of this material at its
>> best.
>> >
>> > Samples for sale are from micros up to the 44 gram
>> main mass.
>> >
>> > Contact me for price and more photos - I am still
>> offering a discount for research use.
>> >
>> > Greg Catterton
>> > www.wanderingstarmeteorites.com
>> > IMCA member 4682
>> > On Ebay: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/wanderingstarmeteorites
>> > On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WanderingStarMeteorites
>> >
>> >
>> >
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-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
http://www.galactic-stone.com
http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
------------------------------------------------------------

Received on Wed 21 Jul 2010 09:06:08 PM PDT