[meteorite-list] image 79 Jason Utas' Iron Photos. Spacers?

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2010 16:40:12 -0400
Message-ID: <AANLkTim9W8Z36E6VkV_4QQuyJUY59O3p6Cvc_Iebq0v5_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi List,

I agree with Jason here. If you have an interesting whole meteorite,
and you must cut it, please document it with photos, so there will be
some record of what the original meteorite looked like.

Best regards,

MikeG


On 6/9/10, Jason Utas <meteoritekid at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Elton,
> We purchased this meteorite a number of years ago; the slices were
> listed individually on ebay as pieces of a newly found individual of
> Tafrawet (NWA 860).
>
> We have an endcut of Tafrawet; it looks nothing like it externally or
> internally.
>
> We promptly bought all of the slices remaining (two or three had
> already sold), and gave a slice to UCLA. Their analysis confirmed
> that it was a new iron, and we're currently working on finishing the
> writeup for its submission - as a new IAB, NWA 3200. It should be
> noted that John and Dawn Birdsell also have a somewhat smaller mass of
> this iron.
>
> With regards to the spacers - Peter contacted...I think it was Greg
> Hupe, but I can't access the records at the moment...to ask him about
> the thickness of the saw-blade that he used to cut the iron.
>
> Peter then found some foam posterboard that was the correct thickness,
> and traced the outlines of each of the facing slices on each side of
> the board. He would then cut out the spacer to the appropriate size
> using the larger outline on each spacer, and trim it down at an angle
> to the drawn outline on the opposite side (the outline of the smaller
> slice). The cutting and trimming was all done by scalpel. When he
> finished, we put it all together and took some pictures to give an
> idea of what the iron would have looked like when it was whole, and
> it's now sitting in an airtight jar back at home.
>
> As I've said before, we collect meteorites with the general goal of
> preserving them; while I can't express how much I understand the value
> of the information that they contain, I also can't help but despair
> when aesthetically stunning meteorites are cut and no record is kept
> of what it once looked like. Tafrawet is a perfect example of this;
> have a look at some photos of this stunning, fresh iron:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameteoritefinder/2426681717/sizes/l/in/photostream/
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameteoritefinder/2426679709/sizes/l/in/photostream/
>
> So far as we know, this was a fresh, oriented iron meteorite with a
> great shape - and no photos of it exist.
> The same goes for one of the first large (~20kg individual) of Ziz.
> Ziz was perhaps a greater loss; the four largest individuals of that
> fall physically fit together as pairs into two lager masses. We
> assume that the remaining ~20kg individual of Ziz would have tied
> those together. And not only was that iron cut, but no photos of that
> meteorite are known to exist as well.
> There are many other examples...
>
> So, we put this one together, as best we could, and took some photos.
> It was actually a pretty interesting iron shaped like an oblate sphere
> that displayed an unusual form of weathering; the underside was eaten
> away by corrosion, and the top exhibited pitting similar to that seen
> on Chilean irons.
>
> And now it is a slightly better-documented iron meteorite...
>
> Regards,
> Jason
>
> On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 11:12 AM, MEM <mstreman53 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dear Jason,
>>
>> Regarding Image number 79 of your Picasa Iron photo page:
>>
>> <http://picasaweb.google.com/MeteoriteKid/Irons#5417262630959925810>
>>
>>
>> This shows what looks like gray spacers/cushions between each layer of the
>> sliced iron. They appear to be roughly equivalent in thickness and
>> contour of each sawcut. I am curious as to how you made the inserts or
>> are these also slices with some coating that gives them contrast?
>>
>> Interesting technique regardless and I am sure labor intensive.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Elton
>>
>>
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Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
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Received on Wed 09 Jun 2010 04:40:12 PM PDT