Meteorite Times Magazine

Meteorite Times Magazine Contents

by Editor

Featured Articles Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish Micro Visions by John Kashuba Norm’s Tektite Teasers by Norm Lehrman Mr. Monning’s Collection by Anne Black IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team Meteorite of the Month by Editor Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Meteorite Times Magazine Soko-Banja: LL4 Artillery from the Sky

by Martin Horejsi

The fall of the Soko-Banja, Serbia (Yugoslavia) chondrite

Like cement f rom t he heavens, t he Soko-Banja chondrit e crashed int o hist ory back in 1877.

At approximat ely t wo in t he af t ernoon on Oct ober 13, 1877, a t hunderous noise described by wit nesses as “Bat t eries of cannon f iring briskly” was heard, f ollowed by a “violent concussion of air.” T hen rocks were st rewn around t he region.

Ot her wit nesses f urt her away described t he event as “t wo explosions like salvoes of art illery accompanied by a brilliant display of light .” T he light was described as like t hat which “at t ends t he burst ing of shells.”

Furt hermore, a dense black smoke was observed quit e high in t he sky, and it “broke int o t hree columns, and gradually changed t o a whit e smoke.”

As an LL4 Chondrit e, it has well preserved and spherical chondrules such as t his beaut y sprout ing f rom bow of t his space ship.

Anot her descript ion of t he f all described t he noise as last ing “f or some t ime, and t hen t he sound resembled t he f iring of musket ry. T he air appeared t o be shaken.”

Following t he explosive sound, st ones f ell t o eart h in an area described as “a mile and a half in lengt h and a half a mile in breadt h.” In ot her words, a classic ellipsoid st rewn f ield.

One st one, weighing 10 okas (~22.5 Aust rian pounds), landed in f ront of a house burying it self “deep in t he eart h.” Anot her st one, t his one weighing 30 okas landed at Scherbanowaz, near Rt anj Berg. It s mass of almost 70 Aust rian pounds became t he main mass of t he f all now known as Soko-Banja.

Peasant s in t he area who experienced t he f all described one st one t he size of a sack of f lour t hat st ruck a rocky surf ace and “was dashed t o f ragment s.”

Addit ional descript ions of part icular st ones included one of 23 okas t hat f ell in t he village of Scherbanowaz, and “penet rat ed t he soil t o a dept h of f our f eet .”

Anot her st one of 15 okas f ell “near t he vineyard at Soko-Banja, and reached a dept h of t hree f eet .”

Int erest ing dark inclusions abound in Soko-Banja. T he cont rast bet ween t he mat rix and t he inclusions was not ed early in t he published descript ions of t hese unusual st ones f rom t he sky.

One piece of not e is a f ragment described as 2 okas in weight and “f ell on a pear t ree, and t hen descended t o t he ground. A man under t he t ree t ook it in his hand, and received t he impression t hat t he mass was st ill warm.”

It was deduced t hat t he explosion of t he bolide occurred at 7000 met ers above t he eart h due t o t he 25 second lag bet ween light and sound.

T he int erior of t he met eorit e was described as consist ing of “spherules of various sizes, some brown, some yellow, cement ed t oget her by and ash-grey mat erial, and present s t he appearance of a t rachyt ic lava.”

T he James DuPont Met eorit e Collect ion let loose of t his specimen back in April of 1995 where it ent ered t he collect ion of Jim Schwade. A decade lat er it moved int o my collect ion.

As a hist orical wit nessed f all, Soko-Banja is a classic case doing more t o conf irm t he underst anding about met eorit es at t he t ime rat her t han adding new inf ormat ion. However, 137 years lat er, Soko-Banja is an import ant place holder in many inst it ut ions due t o is relat ively rare class of LL4, and by t he collect ion of diverse but converging perspect ives about it s f all.

Unt il next t ime‌

Meteorite Times Magazine The 2014 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show Report

by James Tobin

T his is a large orient ed Chelyabinsk met eorit e.

Well anot her T ucson Gem and Mineral Show has come and gone. And I will not make you wait unt il t he end f or what I t hought about t his one. I t hink we did more good work as a business and had more f un and spent more great t ime wit h f riends t hen ever bef ore.

I had a lit t le nervousness about t he t rip because we were leaving f or T ucson a couple days lat er t han we usually do. But , t hose f eeling proved t o be

unf ounded as t here was mat erial f or us t o buy and we f ound almost everyt hing t hat we had want ed t o get . As f or me I went wit hout a list really except I want ed some t iny Chelyabinsk baby met eorit es. T here will be a lot of Chelyabinsk pict ures in t his art icle I made sure t o get some since no one knows how much t here will be in t he f ut ure.

Here are a couple pict ures of t iny orient ed Chelyabinsk met eorit es balanced on t he head of a pin.

Our plane landed at about 3 pm T ucson t ime. Which gave us enough t ime t o run t o our hot el and check in af t er get t ing t he rent al car and head back down t o t he T ucson Cit y Cent er Hot el and spend a lit t le t ime bef ore going t he f ew blocks t o El Charro Rest aurant f or t he yearly IMCA dinner. I f ound a f ew baby Chelyabinsk right of f t hat were nice. I would lat er f ind some even smaller Chelyabinsk and I would buy about 60 of t hose. I brought back t he lowest weight of met eorit es I have in many years but I am sure I brought back t he highest number of individual st ones ever.

New acquisit ions f or my collect ion need t o have a higher ent ert ainment f act or t han t hey did in t he past . And I love not hing more t han put t ing t iny st ones under t he digit al microscope and st udying t hem in closeup det ail. Or t aking a big chunk of t ime t o phot ograph t hem wit h my macro set up. Guess I got hooked on t iny met eorit es af t er Holbrook t wo years ago.

We had a great t ime at t he IMCA dinner. We at e wit h Norm and Cookie Lehrman and Bob and Moni Verish were just a chair away. We got t o see a good number of ot her f riends. T he f ood was as always very good but it really

is t he camaraderie t hat makes t his event so great . I caught up on f amily act ivit ies and t he year’s gardening wit h Norm and Cookie. I had plant ed a veget able garden and built a greenhouse since last year and t hey grow a lot of t heir own veget ables t oo.

Bob was as always excit ed about t he most recent met eorit es he had recovered. He and Moni were bot h pret t y t hrilled wit h t he pict ures Paul and I have got t en of t he night sky. T hey have been wit h us many t imes when we had scopes and enjoyed hours of st argazing wit h us af t er hunt ing met eorit es all day. It st art ed t o rain about 9 pm and we were all in t he pat io area so Paul and I called it a night ; said our goodbyes and headed t o t he hot el. T he next day would begin our work.

Friday morning came slowly f or me af t er a long night of t ossing and t urning wit h lit t le sleep. We had our t radit ional breakf ast at t he Denny’s near t he hot el and headed t o our f irst st op; a visit wit h Mike Miller at t he Ramada. As always his room sparkled wit h beaut if ully et ched irons. We chat t ed a while and got slices of a f ew met eorit es. We made our way around t he corner t o Blaine Reed’s room. As always he was sit t ing on t he bed t alking t o a couple cust omers. We looked around chat t ed wit h him and I f ound a piece of Sarat ov t hat he had. I have a nice slice of Sarat ov already but I have been looking f or a more chunky piece f or a while t hat I can ext ract t he chondrules f rom. If you handle Sarat ov at all it will st art t o shed chondrules. But I want ed t o not get chondrules t hat were cut on one edge. T hat is what I would get t oo many of wit h t he piece I already had. T he piece Blaine had was much t hicker and would give me masses of chondrules only a f ract ion of which would be nicked by a diamond blade. By t he t ime I got home t he piece already had dozens of chondrules in t he plast ic baggie ready t o pick out wit h t weezers.

T his is t he chunky slice of Sarat ov a very f riable L4 chondrit e and wit nessed f all f rom Sept ember 6, 1918. Below is a shot of some of t he chondrules had have been ext ract ed f or my research project already.

We went around t he end of t he building and just really glanced at Said’s room.

As f at e would have it we would ret urn t o get some nice mat erial lat er t o his room. But , right t hen we needed t o move along. We knew we had a f ull day of work ahead and t hat we needed t o be down t he road.

We always spend t wo or t hree hours wit h Erich and Silvia whom we have known f or many years. So as t o not short en our t ime wit h t hem we hit t he area behind t he Days Inn and t hen made our way back t o t heir hot el f or t he rest of t he af t ernoon. T here was anot her dealer t here also t hat we always see.

Behind t he Day’s Inn I usually f ind some met eorit es t hat I can not resist buying.

T his year was no dif f erent . I got just a single st one but it was quit e f resh and about 70% complet e. Not hing really special but it called out t o me. While Paul brief ly t ook care of a lit t le business he had I walked quickly down t o Cosmic Cut lery’s room and said hi t o Bud Eisler. Pablo was t here wit h t he wonderf ul it ems t hat Lisa Marie and he had brought . But , t ime was not on my side so I had t o hurry back and met up wit h Paul. We headed t o Erich and Silvia’s suit e.

David Haas was t here again t his year and as always I f ound a f ew met eorit es f or my collect ion t hat I could not resist . Not t hat it t akes a lot of ef f ort I don’t put up much of a st ruggle. I got a nice slice of an anomalous mesosiderit e, f ive orient ed unclassif ied NWA st ones t hat were quit e cut e, a piece of a NWA pallasit e t hat was heavily weat hered but would make f or a nice phot ograph in a f ut ure book or art icle. I f ound a f ew pieces of Jbilet Winselwan CM2 and got t hose. We got a f ew nice t hings f or t he business and while Paul set t led up

t here wit h t hem I said goodbye and headed t o our ot her supplier t o begin get t ing t oget her t he irons we get every year. I had picked out about half t he mat erial by t he t ime Paul caught up wit h me and we f igure doing it t his way saved us a couple hours. He helped f inish t he select ing and we got done wit h t ime enough t o head back t o T CC f or t he rest of t he af t ernoon. It was birt hday bash evening and we had decided t o eat bef ore going since it is just t oo hard t o eat t here. We needed t o ret urn t o our hot el and we had no plans t o eat wit h f riends t hat night . Af t er dinner we made our way back t o t own and t he Birt hday Bash part y f or Geof f Not kin and St eve Arnold, which always includes t he present ing of t he year’s Harvey Awards. A great group was t here again. We were able t o f inally hook up wit h Rob Wesel and Jason Phillips. It had been t wo years since we had seen t hem. Jason had got t en caught in t he t errible snow st orm t hat hit Dallas and had not been able t o arrive on t ime. We were glad t hat he made it .

It was a smaller crowd I t hink as I was able t o act ually get t he bar maid’s at t ent ion t o order Paul and I some Diet Cokes. Richard Garcia was t here and we got t o chat wit h him about ast rophot ography and Calif ornia st uf f . We need t o do some hunt ing and phot ograph t oget her wit h him. Bill and Mike Jensen were t here and we had f un t alking wit h t hem. Geof f and St eve began t heir program f or t he evening and we all gat hered t oward t he back of t he room t o hear t hem. T hey present ed t he Harveys and many deserving individuals were recognized none more wort hy t han Adam Bat es who received t he award f or being a really good new guy in t he communit y. We had got t en t o meet him last year and were looking f orward t o spending some t ime t he next day looking at his wonderf ul mat erial. It had been a long day and anot her couple lay ahead of us st ill so we did call it an evening a lit t le early.

Af t er anot her poor night of sleep we were up f or t he Sat urday of t he show.

We had planned t o spend all t he day at t he T ucson Cit y Cent er Hot el and see everyone t hat was t here. We had a lit t le list f or t he business and I had not been doing very much buying f or myself so t his was going t o be a chance f or me as well. We had our breakf ast again and since we never have lunch at t he show it s our import ant meal. We had plans f or dinner Sat urday night wit h f riends. We always get some pieces of Libyan Desert Glass at t he show and we f ound a nice bat ch of t hat . Like everyone else we were looking f or Chelyabinsk and we f ound it f or a really f ine price in every t ype you could want . We got some impact melt nodules, some individuals t hat were perf ect and some t hat were broken on one spot t o show of f t he insides. I saw as we were going t hrough t he mat erial some pieces t hat were in t he broken bin and were really slickensides pieces not broken, so I picked up t hose.

I joked wit h Edwin T hompson as we st opped by his room t hat we would be back 50 t imes during t he show so as his room would f ill up we would move on wit h a st at ement like just 48 more t ime t hen 46 more t imes. Course we did not really visit his room 50 t imes but we did get t o spend some great t ime wit h him and Pat rick t his year. We got t o sample his world f amous guacamole and chips. Larry Sloan was t here many of t he visit s and as always it was great t o speak wit h him. He is one of t he f ine gent lemen of our communit y. But , t hen t here are so many f ine individuals in t he communit y t hat it is just a wonderf ul

experience going t o T ucson every year.

We made our way t o Anne Black’s room and had a nice visit wit h her and Molly Phoenix. I f ound a f ew met eorit es t here t his year. Of t he several I f ound I would have t o say t hat t he Deelf ont ein, t he Orange River, and t he Kyushu pieces were t he nicest . I had been looking f or a couple of t hem f or a while. So gradually I was f inding a f ew it ems f or my collect ion at t he show.

El Sampal is a very at t ract ive medium oct ahedrit e f rom Argent ina and I f ound a nice slice of it in Anne’s room t his year.

We moved next door t o Aerolit e Met eorit es t o see Geof f Not kin and his ever ef f icient and f riendly st af f . Geof f greet ed us and signed a couple of books f or us and we chat t ed f or a moment but he was busy. We were able t o arrange a dinner wit h a great group of people including he and Libby f or t he next night .

We knew t hat was going t o be a highlight of t his year’s show. But he had work t o do so we headed onward.

We always st op and see Piet er Heydelaar and Debra Morrisset t e at Global T reasures and f ind a f ew t hings t o buy. T his year we f ound a f ew individual met eorit es and a nice slice of somet hing we have never of f ered bef ore. We chat t ed a long t ime wit h t hem unt il t hey also got busy.

Down t he same hall brought us t o Bruno and Carine’s room wit h t heir wonderf ul mat erial. T hey had a kind of t ough year but t hings worked out OK and t hey were in good spirit s at t he show. T hey have developed a f eel f or what works f or us and always have a f ew met eorit es we buy. It is f un t alking t o t hem t hey bring great st ories and beaut if ul met eorit es.

We gradually made our way t hrough t he hot el hit t ing most of t he met eorit e dealers. We were going t o be back on Monday f or several hours and would f inish seeing a f ew t hen. We did see Adam Bat es on Sat urday. His room is a delight t o visit . Such well prepared met eorit es and nearly all are somet hing

really int erest ing. We had a great visit and got t o know him a lit t le bet t er.

Mike Farmer was next t o visit . We had seen him brief ly t wo days earlier and he was bringing in some mat erial f or us t o go t hrough. So we made it t o his room and got t hat mat erial and somet hing else as it t urned out .

T he af t ernoon had crept up on us and I suddenly realized t hat I had not spent any money t he whole day. So it was a f ast t rip over t o one dealer we had not visit ed yet t o see what he had. He was one of t he Russian dealers and we really needed t o compare prices on Chelyabinsk anyway. Well, he had a box wit h some of t he cut est t iny Chelyabinsk you would ever want t o see. I had no problem f inding a f ew dozen t hat I could not resist . Of course t hey did not weigh very much so you get a lot of bang f or a buck wit h t iny met eorit es even if t he price per gram is not t he lowest in t own. St ill it has been a while since I bought over 60 met eorit es f or about $.50 or less each. And t hey are cut e lit t le t hings all crust y and t iny. A high percent age of t hem are orient ed.

Here is a phot ograph of a group of t he t iny Chelyabinsk met eorit es t hat I got . T he weight s run f orm 0.024 gram f or t he smallest t o 0.077 gram f or t he largest of t he group. Many are orient ed as can be seen on t he pict ure.

T his is t he group shot of t he baby Chelyabinsk met eorit es t hat were a lit t le bigger. Again many are orient ed and a couple are act ually perf ect spheres. I t hink t hese might even be f usion crust ed individual choundrule because t hey are not responsive t o a magnet . In f act many of t hese t iny Chelyabinsk have no met al and ignore a rare eart h magnet .

T hese are f our larger Chelyabinsk individuals t hat are orient ed. T he f usion crust on t he one is spect acular. I will show it separat ely next . T he double point ed one is very int erest ing as well.

Here is t he det ail shot of t he crust y orient ed met eorit e f rom t he group of f our. I has a wonderf ul domed f ace and a bubbly lip and back. It has f low ridges around t he side like t he several seen in t his shot .

Here is a chose up shot of one of t he Chelyabinsk spheres balanced on a pin head.

Now it was t ime t o head t o dinner. We were of f t o a rest aurant f or t he f anciest burgers of our lif e. Zen Burger was across t own and we f ound it busy when we got t here. A long wait was rewarded wit h a great meal and good f un wit h f riends and a really nice chocolat e shake. Paul went f or t he slight ext ra cost of t he Kobe beef and enjoyed it . T he regular burgers were made f rom Angus beef and I f igured my old t ast e buds could probably not t ell t he dif f erence. Mine was a good burger t oo. Our f riends headed of f f or ot her act ivit ies t hat night and we headed back t o our hot el t o do some work and organizing. We needed t o get some st uf f ready t o ship back. I suggest ed t hat we wat ch a movie. My wif e and I had gone t o see Capt ain Phillips in t he t heat er just a couple weeks earlier. I had already t old Paul how good I t hought it was. So we planned t o pack and wrap up st uf f while wat ching t he movie.

Really soon I realized t hat Paul needed t o be able t o read t he subt it les of t he f oreign language in t he f ilm so I wrapped and he wat ched. It was a great plan I enjoyed t he movie again and he seemed t o be impressed by it t oo.

Sunday was our day t o go t o t he wholesale show and get somet hing nice f or my wif e and t his year f or t hree of our granddaught ers t hat are all t urning 13. I had a lit t le t rouble f inding my f avorit e jewelry girls at t he wholesale show but wit h some help f rom Paul we did. I f ound t he amet hyst heart earrings f or t he girls and t he pendant f or my wif e t hat I hoped would be perf ect f or a Valent ine’s Day gif t . Even wit h t he dif f icult y f inding my people we were out of t he wholesale show in only about an hour. I needed some silver solder past e and I f igured I could get t hat at t he T EP show across t he st reet f rom t he wholesale show.

We zipped over t o t he T ucson Elect ric Park show and I f ound my solder and were st art ing back t o t he car. T hen I saw Suzanne Morrison and Quinn and St eve Arnold and t heir boot h. So we had a great visit wit h t hem. St eve was set t ing up t o sign some aut ographs so we st art ed heading f or t he car again.

We walked a f ew yards and heard “t hese are not t he droids you’re looking f or” as Geof f Not kin approached us. It seems t hat t his kind of t hing happens every year, we just run int o t he best people over and over. Geof f was on his way t o t he aut ograph session so we just t alked a moment . We would be seeing him t hat evening at dinner and we were looking f orward t o t hat .

A couple minut es lat er st ill bef ore we reached t he car my son called and said he was out side T ucson and would pass us in a f ew minut es. I said we would probably be gone by t hen but he said he would honk t he t ruck horn as he passed t he T EP show. So if anyone of our f riends heard a semi t ruck horn a f ew minut es af t er we lef t t hat was T om my son on his way t o LA. Get t ing done early at t he wholesale show gave us t he whole af t ernoon back at t he T ucson Cit y Cent er and we made t he rounds again. Got t o spend some more great t ime wit h ET and Pat rick. It was a dif f erent kind of day f or us. We usually go home on Sunday and have just a f ew hours in t he morning t o say goodbye t o everyone. T his t rip we would be here a whole addit ional day. Wit h most of t he work done and t he package basically ready t o ship we kept our eye out f or t hings t hat we could use, but some of t he pressure was of f and we could relax a lit t le. So it was st ory t ime wit h ET and lot s of laughing.

Anot her visit t o Pani where I had got t en a really beaut if ul Chelyabinsk a couple day earlier. It was a large st one and perf ect ly f usion crust ed and slight ly orient ed. It was Paul’s t urn t o f ind t hings in Pani’s room. He always set s a f ew pieces aside f or us t oo so Paul went t hrough t hose while I f ound a f ew met eorit es f rom an old collect ion t hat he had f or sale. Several Aust ralian met eorit es and older USA met eorit es t hat I had not seen f or sale in years. I was really happy t hat I bought t hem and here are pict ures of just t hree.

T his is a slice of Norcat eur a 1940 L6 f ind f rom Kansas.

Here is a close up of Ovid an H6 f ind f rom Colorado f rom 1939.

Coomandook seen here is a nice reddish colored 1939 H6 f ind f rom Aust ralia.

My pile of met eorit es was pret t y small but I was bringing home some really nice mat erial t hat I would enjoy. T hat was more import ant t han t he weight . It was nearing t ime t o head t o dinner. T he Hub is a rest aurant /creamery wit h a modern f eel. Sunday night was t he group of f riends t hat I could only dream of having t he chance t o spend t ime wit h. Geof f Not kin and Elisabet h Egleson, Maria Haas, Anne Black, Molly Phoenix, Mike f rom Geof f ’s st af f and Dave Haas all joined Paul and I f or a f abulous good t ime. T he gem show is so busy and t he dealers who work it have such a hard job f or about a mont h t hat it is really special when t hey make t he t ime t o get t oget her wit h f riends. I know Paul appreciat ed seeing t hem as much as I did.

Monday was our last day at t he show but we did not leave unt il af t ernoon so we had a f ew hours t o run around and say f arewell t o everyone. First t hing was t o send of f our shipment of st uf f t hat was t oo heavy t o carry on t he plane. We had packed all t he f ragile met eorit es so t hey would be saf e and we t ook t hem wit h us. T his was t he best gem show f or me in t he t went y odd years I have gone. It is always a mix of t he rocks and t he people. T his year was a spect acular blend t hat I will savor t hrough sweet memories f or years t o come. T hanks t o everyone of you who made it special.

Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Market Trends

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Meteorite Times Magazine List of California Meteorites

by Robert Verish T his updated list is organiz ed into Falls, and Finds f rom dry-lakes, and Finds not f rom dry-lakes.

T his is a project t hat I’ve been working on ever since I discovered t hat it was hard t o f ind a list of Calif ornia Met eorit es wit h det ailed inf ormat ion t hat wasn’t out -of -dat e. T he pace of met eorit e-recovery in t he st at e of Calif ornia is rapid and t he rat e is increasing. Keeping such a list “up-t o-dat e” wit hout losing some det ails regarding recovery dat a is becoming more of a challenge.

T he original art icle f or t his mont h’s inst allment of Bob’s Findings was t o be “Part 2″ of my previous “San Bernardino Wash (L5)” art icle. Af t er I had t wo of my f inds f rom t hat st rewn-f ield classif ied, I submit t ed t hose met eorit es t o t he Nomenclat ure Commit t ee (NomCom) in order t o get f ormally-approved names f or t hem. But t hose names st ill haven’t been approved. In f act , I may be required t o show more convincing dat a t hat my L5-chondrit e f inds are not act ually relat ed t o t he already-named L5-chondrit e st rewn-f ield t hat t hey were f ound wit hin, bef ore t he NomCom f eels comf ort able approving my name request . So, unt il t hat happens, I will have t o save my original art icle f or a lat er inst allment .

Finding anot her t opic t o writ e about , while st icking t o t he t heme of Calif ornia met eorit es, wasn’t a problem f or me. T he post ponement of t hat ot her art icle has given me an opport unit y t o present in t his art icle t he current st at e of my progress in my on-going project – t hat of maint aining a more det ailed “List of Calif ornia Met eorit es”.

On t he Int ernet t he only sit e wit h up-t o-dat e inf ormat ion on all of t he f ormallyrecognized met eorit e is t he Met eorit ical Bullet in Dat abase. T his websit e comes wit h a search engine t hat can produce a list of t he current “Calif ornia, USA” met eorit es. T his list ing of raw dat a f rom t hat Dat abase is t he source of much of t he inf ormat ion on my List . I consider t his dat abase t o be t he def ining document f or all t he world’s met eorit es.

Credit has t o be given t o Dr. Pet rus Jenniskins f or coming up wit h t he idea of compiling a list t hat separat es and highlight s met eorit e f alls, while also list ing separat ely met eorit es f ound on dry-lakes f rom t hose f ound elsewhere. In addit ion, f alls are list ed chronologically (st art ing wit h t he most recent ), while t he deart h of dry-lake f inds are list ed alphabet ically f or t he readers convenience. T his produces a list t hat has met eorit e f alls, which are t he most sought f or inf ormat ion, appearing at t he t op of t he list , while t he numerous f inds f rom dense collect ion areas (i.e., dry-lakes) appear lower in t he list . Dr. Jenniskins compilat ion of t he 4 Calif ornia f alls is very inf ormat ive and current , but t he list of f inds is dat ed as “2009″ and could use an updat e. So, I f orward t o him an updat e f or his websit e. But , just in case his “Met eorit es of Calif ornia” webpage on t he NASA-SET I-CAMS websit e can’t be updat ed or get s moved, or worse, get s removed, I have reserved a domain f or Calif ornia Met eorit es, which I hope will give t his list more permanency.

For a link t o my newly updat ed “List of Calif ornia Met eorit es” – click HERE! Ref erences: Met eorit es wit h Place = Calif ornia f rom t he Met eorit ical Bullet in: t he search result s f or all met eorit es f ound in “Calif ornia, USA” – Published in Met eorit ical Societ y – Met eorit ical Bullet in, Dat abase.

Met eorit es of Calif ornia t he list of f ormaly-recognized Calif ornia met eorit e f alls and f inds t hat is curat ed by Dr. Pet rus Jenniskins, on t he NASA-AmesCAMS websit e host ed by t he Set i Inst it ut e.

My previous art icles can be f ound *HERE*

For f or more inf ormation, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser

Meteorite Times Magazine Overgrowths

by John Kashuba T hese chondrules show t he ef f ect s of mult iple heat ing event s coupled wit h accret ion. T hey are chondrules and mineral grains t hat have gat hered nebular dust , been heat ed and ended up wit h porphyrit ic olivine and pyroxene jacket s.

A pair of relat ed barred olivine (BO) chondrules appear blue/yellow in t his ot herwise porphyrit ic olivine pyroxene (POP) chondrule. NWA 4870 LL3.7 t hin sect ion in crosspolarized light (XPL). Field of view (FOV) is 3mm wide.

Wit h t he polarizing f ilt ers rot at ed t o a dif f erent posit ion t he BO chondrules go t o opt ical ext inct ion, clearly revealing t heir posit ion in t he larger chondrule. NWA 4870 LL3.7 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

A POP chondrule wit h a BO chondrule in t he cent er. NWA 1930 LL3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

A large, part ially disrupt ed POP chondrule wit h a BO chondrule occupying much of it s cent er. NWA 1930 LL3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 6.4mm wide. POP chondrule 4mm wide.

A POP chondrule wit h a BO chondrule in t he cent er. NWA 4522 LL3.5 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

Wit h t he polarizing f ilt ers rot at ed t o a dif f erent posit ion t he BO chondrule goes t o opt ical ext inct ion revealing how much of t he overall chondrule it occupies. NWA 4522 LL3.5 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

A chondrule consist ing of a single large mineral grain surrounded by a t hin layer of mat erial t hat had gat hered around t he grain and t hen been heat ed. T he whole is surrounded by opaque dust . NWA 3358 H(L)3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

T he same chondrule wit h t he cent ral mineral grain in ext inct ion. NWA 3358 H(L)3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

T he chondrule below and t o t he right of cent er cont ains a dusky rust y red relict grain.

NWA 3358 H(L)3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

T he irregular chondrule in t he cent er of t his f ield cont ains several dusky relict grains.

NWA 3358 H(L)3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

T he chondrule just below cent er cont ains a BO chondrule and POP mat erial. NWA 4522 LL3.5 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

Wit h t he f ilt ers rot at ed we can easily see t hat t he BO chondrule occupies about half of t he cross sect ion. T he chondrule just above cent er consist s largely of t wo joined BO chondrules of dif f erent t ext ures. POP mat erial rounds out t he chondrule. NWA 4522 LL3.5 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

Finally, anot her BO / POP chondrule. NWA 1930 LL3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

Wit h t he f ilt ers rot at ed we can see t hat t he bulk of t he chondrule is composed of t hree discret e BO chondrules or chondrule f ragment s. NWA 1930 LL3 t hin sect ion in XPL, FOV = 3mm wide.

NORM’S TEKTITE TEASERS: Ločenice Moldavites; move over Besednice!

By Norm Lehrman (www.tektitesource.com)

This year at the big Tucson show, one of the Czech moldavite suppliers had a frame of stunningly beautiful specimens recently recovered from the Ločenice area, a few kilometers northwest of Besednice (Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic). Ločenice is a long-known locality that has been revisited and systematically searched in the last year or two resulting in some of the finest specimens ever. The pieces are robust, richly colored, and the skin ornamentation is deep and glossy with a smoother character than the fragile, spiny, and somewhat frosted nature of Besednice.

Some specimens exhibit unmistakeable Anda-like ornamentation with parallel grooving reminiscent of rodent chew-marks.

The first beauty we sold is being set into fine jewelry, an application perfectly suited to the new Ločenice material!

Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires require a lot of modifications to bring out their glory. But these superb Ločenices are finished works of art. I am in awe.

Meteorite Times Magazine The Atoka Meteorite

by Anne Black At oka is a small t own in t he wooded hills of sout hern Oklahoma, some 100 miles nort h of Fort Wort h and T CU, as t he crow or t he met eorit e f lies.

According t o Wikipedia, it was set t led by t he Choct aw Indians in t he 1830s and event ually named af t er t heir chief by a Bapt ist missionary, and besides a small skirmish bet ween Union and Conf ederat e soldiers just out side of t own in February 1864, not hing much happened in At oka. Unt il Sept ember 17, 1945 when a large met eor st reaked across t he night sky, and at t ract ed t he at t ent ion of a dedicat ed met eorit e-hunt er.

(Unident if ied, undat ed newspaper clipping).

He was not t he only one t o not ice it and Mr. Monnig prompt ly received a very nicely worded let t er answering his quest ion. T hat a young boy of 13 was able t o writ e t his let t er is surprising enough but he is also able t o describe very precisely t he orient at ion and t he angle of t he f all. And t hat let t er cont ains anot her int erest ing f act : he ment ions t hat he saw anot her and even large met eor, a violet one, a f ew mont hs prior. Did t hat met eor produce a met eorit e? Did anyone ever look f or it ? If Mr. Mark T wain Carroll is st ill alive and happens t o read t his, I would love t o give him a small f ragment of t he At oka met eorit e t hat he saw such a long t ime ago.

Mr. Monnig did not keep a copy of what ever response he made t o Mark Carroll, but by t hen t he met eorit e had been f ound and t his discovery was announced along wit h an even more hist orical event : t he end of World War II, in

announced along wit h an even more hist orical event : t he end of World War II, in t he local newspaper.

And by t hen, Mr. Monnig was already in Oklahoma, invest igat ing t he f all and

f ollowing t he various leads. It had been seen by quit e a f ew people, including a f armer in At oka ret urning f rom a hunt ing t rip and even by a lady in Mount Pleasant , T exas, who had at t ended one his lect ures on ast ronomy. One mass had already been broken but most of t he f ragment s were quickly f ound.

(Unident if ied, undat ed newspaper clipping)

Some 37 years lat er Mr. Monnig st ill remembered very clearly t hat hunt ing t rip of 1945, and was able t o describe it very t horoughly in a let t er t o Harvey Nininger. He also had his own and rat her original t heory as t o why so f ew small f ragment s had been f ound.

Mr. Sanders picking up a piece of t he At oka met eorit e. Phot o t aken by O. Monnig.

Meteorite Times Magazine Ivory Coast Tektites

by Anne Black

by Alain Carion

Alain Carion and Ivory Coast T ekt it es. Phot o by Mr. F. T he t ekt it es of Ivory Coast are wit hout a doubt t he rarest of t he t ekt it es in any collect ions. T hey have been f ound while searching f or gold, part icularly in gold placers, but local shamans and t ribal chief s usually kept t hem and prized t hem as amulet s wit h great powers. T hey are somet imes called “Ivoirit es�; t hey are black, opaque, of t en round wit h small, very t ypical vacuoles. T he source crat er is probably t he Bosumt wi crat er, in Ashant i land in sout h-cent ral Ghana; it is about 10km (6.5 miles) across, f illed wit h a lake and bot h t he crat er and t he t ekt it es have been dat ed at about 1 million years old. Among t he many dif f erent t ekt it es, we can only be sure of t he source-crat er of t wo: moldavit es and Ivoirit es.

In t he early 1960s, when t he Americans were preparing t o conquer Space, t he prevalent t heory was t hat t ekt it es came f rom t he Moon, and since NASA was already planning t o land on t he Moon, a number of researchers were sent around t he globe wit h t he mission t o f ind t hose st range object s and all t he inf ormat ion available. It is at t hat t ime t hat a f ew of t hose expert s came t o t he Museum of Nat ural Hist ory in Paris and re-classif ied t he whole t ekt it e collect ion t here. Ot hers went direct ly t o t he local sit es t o collect specimens; t his was t he case f or Dr. Virgil E. Barnes of t he Universit y of T exas, in Aust in T exas. On behalf of NASA he went on t wo t rips, f irst in 1960-61, t hen in 196364, he brought back many samples f rom many dif f erent sit es, except Ivory Coast where he was met wit h great dif f icult ies and f ound none.

Ivory Coast was a French colony unt il August 7, 1960 when it declared it s independence. Many French people lived t here and some st ill do, France having always had close relat ionships wit h it s f ormer colonies in Af rica, and Paris is a good place t o be t o hear about new mineral discoveries in t hose count ries.

Here is how a bat ch of t hose rare t ekt it es was discovered and saved by a French collect or, Mr. F. on an open-air market in cent ral France t hanks t o his knowledge of met eorit es and t ekt it es. T his gent leman, a collect or always looking f or unusual t hings, was walking around a small f lea market where local people could present on a small pat ch of ground some old clot hes, children t oys, and even old packaging f rom t he 70s. He had almost f inished his visit when he spot t ed a f ew marble-sized pieces of black glass; he picked t hem up, recognized t hem as t ekt it es, asked f or t he price and bought f ive specimens f or just a f ew euros. Int rigued by t he shape, he asked t he seller where she had f ound t hose object s; much t o his surprise, she explained t hat her grandmot her, Mrs. Madeleine Bouguarel, an avid collect or of minerals and rare, odd nat ural object s, had long lived on a cot t on-plant at ion near Daoukro in west ern Ivory Coast and she had become int rigued by t hose black marbles, already quit e rare. Event ually it had become a passion and she had encouraged t he workers of t he plant at ion t o bring t hose t ekt it es t o her. It t ook her over f if t een years t o build up her collect ion but in 1970, af t er some et hnic riot s, she f inally lef t t he plant at ion t aking wit h her only a small suit case and her precious black st ones. Af t er her deat h, her grand-daught er had f ound t hem in a box in t he at t ic, and she had picked up a f ew t o present on t his f lea market . Mr. F., who underst ood t he int erest and t he value of t hose st ones, asked if she had more and where t hey were locat ed. Only t wo days lat er he was able t o buy t he whole collect ion, some 120 st ones; a t rue world-class t reasure! He prompt ly cont act ed me because he had read my books and knew how rare t hose st ones were; in f act he was already one of my cust omers.

First st ones received. Phot o by Alain Carion At f irst he cont act ed me by phone and of f ered t o send a f ew pieces t o me f ree of charge, asking only f or my expert opinion. A f ew days lat er, I did receive a package wit h a small plast ic box cont aining f our small st ones but t he shapes were not what I expect ed. I have a very good specimen in my personal collect ion and I have in t he past sold a f ew small st ones acquired f rom John Saul, an American scient ist , one of t he very f ew people who had ever collect ed any direct ly on t he sit e. T he shape I was expect ing was t hat of a well-rounded marble, t hose were not , and I declined t he of f er.

I kept t hat box on a corner of my desk f or nearly a year bef ore I f inally decided t o call him again and t o go look at t he whole bat ch. But t hen, when I saw t he complet e collect ion, all doubt s were gone and I underst ood t he value of t hat discovery. I bought t he whole lot and Mr. F. accept ed t o put me in cont act wit h t he original seller, t he grand-daught er of Madeleine Bouguarel, I want ed t o know more about t he original owner of t his except ional collect ion, and I even obt ained a pict ure of t hat lady. But among t he many emails I exchanged wit h t he grand-daught er t here is one t hat surprised me, it read exact ly: “Me, I know t hat she had f ields of cot t on at Daoukro, and t hat at t he t ime she had sent a f ew st ones t o NASA�. T his could only have been known by a f ew people at t hat t ime; did Madeleine Bouguarel meet or hear of t hose American scient ist s who were looking f or unusual st ones? Did she have t he wrong address? Was

t he package lost or did a secret ary t hink t hat it was a joke? We will never know.

Mrs. Madeleine Bouguarel in 1970. Phot o supplied by her grand-daught er.

I present ed t his collect ion in exclusivit y during t he Show of T ucson in February 2014. Each t ekt it e was sold wit h a cert if icat e of aut hent icit y, wit h a pict ure, weight and dimensions of t he individual st one. I personally guarant ee each of t hese t ekt it es. Also Pierre Rochet t e of t he Cent re Nat ional de la Recherche Scient if ique in Aix-Marseille did a magnet ic suscept ibilit y st udy on about f ort y of t hese Ivory Coast t ekt it es. T he st udy proved t hat t he lot is homogeneous wit h an average value clearly dif f erent f rom t he magnet ic suscept ibilit y of an Aust ralit e f rom my Gallery and f rom t he values published in t he scient if ic lit erat ure. All t his because you can act ually f ind t ekt it es in Ivory Coast but it is impossible even f or an expert mineralogist t o t ell if t hey have been f ound locally or import ed f rom China or Viet nam, as t he local ones are st ill ext remely rare. So even wit h t he addit ion of t hese 120 st ones, real t ekt it es f rom Ivory Coast are st ill t he rarest of all t ekt it es.

Meteorite Times Magazine Tucson 2014 Meteorite Dealers Pictured on MPOD

by Editor Our Met eorit e of t he Mont h is kindly provided by T ucson Met eorit es who host s T he Met eorit e Pict ure of t he Day. A special t hank you t o Paul at T ucson Met eorit es f or post ing dealer pict ures daily during t he T ucson Show. Scrolling t hrough t hem now brings back so many great memories f rom t he show.

If you’d like more inf ormat ion about t hese dealers and t o see more pict ures f rom t heir rooms please visit February 2014 at T he Met eorit e Pict ure of t he Day.

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Once a few decades ago this opening was a framed window in the wall of H. H. Nininger's Home and Museum building. From this window he must have many times pondered the mysteries of Meteor Crater seen in the distance.

Photo by Š 2010 James Tobin