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 Avanhandava, Brazil: A No-Nonsense H4 By Martin Horejsi
Avanhandava is a st one not usually represent ed in privat e collect ions, and even more rarely in anyt hing larger t han a gram or t wo. T he dist ribut ion of Avanhandava is very low even t hough t here are over nine kilograms in circulat ion. Avanhandava f ell in San Paulo, Brazil in 1952. It is list ed as an H4, S2, and despit e it ’s mundaneness, Avanhandava has f ound it s way int o a handf ul of research st udies.
T here are much bet t er looking chondrit es t hen Avanhandava. In f act , most st ones, even t hose pulled f rom t he hot sands are more enjoyable t o gaze at . Avanhandava as represent ed in most collect ions is lit t le more t han a f riable rust -t int ed blob wit h occasional dist inct chondrit es. Init ial report s st at ed t hat t he mass of Avanhandava t hat arrived on eart h was 30cm in diamet er. However, it broke up and 9.3kg were preserved. According t o t he Cat alogue of Met eorit es, of t hose f ew kilos, t he largest pieces are 7.74kg in Colegio Est adual, 1.59kg in Avanhandava, 3.1kg in t he USNM. Since t hat t ot als 12.42kg, but t he f irst t wo weight s exact ly t ot al t he list ed T KW, I assume t hat some subdividing has occurred wit hin t he limit ed sub 10kg init ial report .
Avanhandava is cert ainly not a looker, but it does represent a half -cent ury old wit nessed f all. And any wit nessed f all is a good f all in my book. Unt il next t ime‌.
Meteorite Times Magazine My New Meteorite Saw By James Tobin I have had a great advent ure t he last couple weeks. My old diamond saw t hat I made about 30 years ago f inal died and I needed a new one. T here is not hing on t he market t o go out and buy t hat will do what I want f rom a diamond saw. So I t ook a week or so t o t hink about t he design and made a f ew sket ches of ideas and t hen spent t he last week making t he saw. Of course t his was t he last t wo weeks of March. Paul said, “You have t o t ake a lot of pict ures f or an art icle unless you are keeping t he design a secret .� Well, t here is no reason t o keep it secret . T here is not hing really new t hat was not in t he ot her saw it is just a lot bet t er. T hirt y years ago I had t o make a saw f ast . I used a lot of welding on part s and used really scrap st uf f f rom t he garage t o put t he old saw t oget her. Not t his t ime.
T his is an image of t he nearly f inished saw. I is just lacking it s splash covers. I had t he t ime t o do t his right and make it t he way I want ed so I did no welding.
No brazing eit her it is made f rom aluminum and a f ew hard wood spacers. T he only plast ics are t he splash covers of clear acrylic and t he mot or and pulley cover and blade cover made of black ABS. First let me say t hat I made nearly every part except t he act ual machine screws t hat hold it t oget her. T he aluminum plat e and angle I had in t he garage f rom t aking apart some old pieces of print ing equipment . I had been holding on t o t his met al f rom years ago when I got out of t he print ing business. T he whole cost f or t his saw was under f ort y dollars and t hat is because I had t o buy t he pump f or t he coolant . I had t wo pumps but af t er sit t ing f or 20 years neit her worked. I used t he mot or and pulley mechanism f rom t he old saw since t hat part I had well engineered 30 years ago. But t he broken belt t hat provoked t his whole t hing f orced me t o modif y t he pulleys. T hey were a st range double groove vee belt t ype deal t hat I could not f ind a replacement f or anywhere. So I t ook t he pulleys and t urned t hem down t o get rid of t he middle peak and make t hem int o a normal single vee design. I had t wo t hick aluminum plat es t hat were t he side f rames f rom a huge old phot o t ypeset t ing machine. T hey were 1/4 inch t hick and would make a great saw t op st ruct ure. T here was a hole in t he middle of t he plat es and I decided t o ut ilize t he hole f or t he coolant t o drain of f t he saw. I have become annoyed t oo many t imes by having t o drain t he saw af t er use and having t o pull t he saw apart t o change t he blades. And t hen t here are t he t imes t hat t he t hin slice of met eorit e slides right down int o t he coolant t ank and I had t o t ake t he saw apart t o ret rieve t he slice. So t he plan f or t his saw was t o spray coolant ont o t he blade and let it be complet ely exposed above t he t op of t he saw st ruct ure; much like a commercial chop saw. I would have t o recirculat e t he coolant and I needed t o keep big pieces of rock out of t he t ub t hat would be under t he saw. I did not want pieces of rock jamming up t he pump. T his will all be pret t y easy t o underst and by looking at t he at t ached images.
T his is t he t op plat e of t he saw wit h t he coolant cont ainment wall at t ached. I had an old piece of elect ronic equipment t hat I had t orn down but I had kept t he case f rom and it had six round vent ilat ion screens. I t ook t hose and made t hem int o f ilt er screens by placing t hem ont o a plat e of aluminum t hat covered t he big drain hole in t he saw t op. So not hing big enough t o clog my pump or coolant spray nozzle would make it t o t he t ub t hat had t he recirculat ing coolant . Also no slices or pieces of rock will ever f all anywhere wit h t he new saw.
T his is an image of t he six drain screens t hat prevent any rock part icles f rom ret urning wit h t he coolant t o t he t ank under t he saw. T he pump and spray nozzle work f ine wit h t he saw creat ed mud but would clog wit h larger part icles. For years I have writ t en about how I at t ach t he met eorit es t o a mandrel wit h dop wax and make slice af t er slice by moving t he mandrel over wit h a screw pushing mechanism. I am st ill using t hat syst em but t his is much more ref ined. T he new saw has much t ight er t olerances and t he whole mandrel mot ion mechanism can be removed and replaced wit h a t able cut t ing plat f orm f or when slices are diced down t o smaller size pieces.
Pict ured here is t he mandrel holder and lat eral mot ion mechanism. T he dial indicat or allows me t o cut slices t hat are exact ly t he same t hickness one af t er anot her wit hout removing t he rock f rom t he saw. I had used a rolled t hreaded rod of large diamet er and coarse t hread in t he old saw. T his t ime I machined t he t hreaded rod f or t he mechanism t hat advances t he st one int o t he blade. I used a small diamet er shaf t and cut f ine t hreads int o. It is much smoot her and I have a lot more cont rol and none of t he periodic error t hat I had wit h t he old rolled t hreaded rod. I would t urn t he handle t o advance t he st one and it would not move f or half a t urn and t hen it would advance t he ot her half rot at ion. I have none of t hat wit h t he machined t hreads I cut . T he t rade of f f or using a t hin diamet er rod however is t hat I have much less support in t he whole carriage t he moves f orward and back. So t o avoid any sagging when cut t ing a heavy rock I have inst alled an “ant isag pin� f rom t he bot t om of t he carriage t o t he f rame of t he mechanism below. T he round end of t he pin rides smoot hly on t he bot t om f rame rail and t here can be no sagging under load. T he addit ion of an un-t hreaded rod parallel t o t he t hreaded rod is anot her improvement . T here can be no up and down or t wist ing mot ion of t he carriage as it moves f orward and back past t he blade.
T hese are t he part s f or t he cross mot ion carriage t hat move t he met eorit e in and out t hrough t he blade. T he next image shows t he mechanism assembled.
Since t he whole blade was t o be exposed above t he saw t op plat e I decided t hat I could use an 8 inch blade as well as t he 6 inch size I have been using. So I designed t he blade cover so t hat it would have wide enough sides t o cover t he last port ion of t he 6 inch diamet er blades and be t hick enough t o handle t he 8 inch blades wit h some room t o spare. I drew up pat t erns on cardboard and cut t hem out t hen t ransf erred t he cont ours t o 1/8 inch t hick ABS plast ic and cut out t he t wo sides. ABS plast ic has a t ext ured side and a smoot h side so I had t o t urn t he pat t ern over f or one of t he sides so t hey would bot h have t he at t ract ive t ext ure when glued up. I made an assembly jig wit h a board and f inishing nails t o hole t he plast ic sides down in alignment and let me wrap t he band of plast ic around t he edge f or t he t op of t he blade cover. I st acked blocks made of f oam core t he correct t hickness in bet ween t he t wo side pieces and glued t he assembly t oget her.
T hese images show t he blade cover cardboard t emplat es and t he cut part s, t hen t he part s in t he assembly jig drying af t er gluing. I love working wit h ABS plast ic it cut s easy and breaks st raight if you score it on bot h side. And it glues t oget her wit h solvent t ype glue so t he pieces are welded as if t hey were one piece when it drys. I made t he mot or and pulley cover t he same basic way. Pat t erns cut f rom cardboard and t he pieces glued using my right angle pict ure f raming clamps and small hobby speed clamps. I had t hought about making a f iberglass t ank t o cont ain t he coolant wit hin t he middle of t he saw. But decided t o t ake aluminum angle and cut it and rivet it down t o t he saw t op plat e and creat e a wall. I had been st oring a big can of assort ed aircraf t rivet f or 30 – 40 years and had used a f ew f rom t ime t o t ime but t his was my chance t o make use of t hem. T he hard aluminum alloy rivet s would give me a f ant ast ically st rong connect ion and would never rust . I also sprayed t he inside of t he wall area wit h a plast ic sealer so t he coolant could not leak. I worked t he project as sub-assemblies. I made t he cross mot ion mechanism wit h t he carriage and support as an assembly of it s own. I had t he mot or and pulley and blade arbor mechanism as anot her assembly. I just needed t o int egrat e t he various sub-assemblies int o t he f inished saw design. I already had t he cross mot ion mechanisms and carriage made so I could mark t he saw t op plat e f or where it would be locat ed. T hen I cut and f olded t he coolant wall aluminum angle t o leave spot s where component s would lat er be mount ed.
T his pict ure shows t he posit ioning of t he sub-assemblies in t he aluminum wall. Having t he Âź inch t hick t op plat e let me t ap all t he mount ing holes f or t he various it ems t hat needed t o be mount ed. I used most ly brass screws t o avoid rust ing but could and may swit ch t hem out f or st ainless st eel screws.
But I don’t t hink t here will be much galvanic act ivit y bet ween t he dissimilar met als of aluminum and brass. Af t er all I am using dist illed wat er wit h a lit t le alcohol which is nearly elect rically neut ral f or chemical act ion. And t he saw should drain t o nearly dry quickly af t er use. But , I did not want t o use st eel screws wit hin t he coolant t ank area. I f igure I will need t o t ake it apart f rom t ime t o t ime and do not want t o f ool around wit h corroded screws. I had been annoyed wit h t he old saw t hat it did not have nice knobs t o t urn f or making t he mot ion of t he st one lat erally or int o and out of t he blade. So I had some scrap exot ic hardwood (t he species I no longer remember, but it was nice wood). I t urned it int o knobs and t hink I made nice at t ract ive cont ours t hat will make t he saw nice t o look at and pleasant t o use. T here is a knob t hat locks t he aluminum mandrel holder int o t he cross mot ion mechanism. T here is a knob t hat holds t he mandrel in posit ion af t er it has been moved over f or t he next cut . T wo addit ional knobs were needed one f or t he end of t he lat eral mot ion adjust ment screw and one on t he crank of t he f orward and backward mot ion t hreaded rod. It t ook a lot of t ime t o t urn t he knobs but I am happy wit h t he way t hey look and work. I was a lot more int erest ed in t he appearance of t he saw t his t ime. I was concerned t hat it worked well f irst of f , but I want ed somet hing t hat was nice t o see also. Over t he last 15 years I have been asked t o cut met eorit es on camera on t wo occasions and t o be perf ect ly honest I was not proud enough of t he saw I had t o f eel great when using it on camera. But , t his saw I t hink is pret t y at t ract ive and well engineered. T he images will t ell you t he rest of t he st ory on t he const ruct ion. So I will move on t he t he next annoying part of t he old saw I was going t o t ry and remove f rom t his design. I have cut rocks long enough t o expect t hat t here will be spray everywhere. But , I am t ired of being soaking wet af t er a couple hours of work. So one of my goals wit h t his saw was t o make covers t hat would give me visibilit y while st ill cont aining almost all t he coolant .
T he splash guards can be seen in t his image and t hey worked very well I get hit by no coolant now. I was pret t y sure t hat I could heat acrylic plast ic and bent it using t he heat gun I have f or shrink insulat ion. So I made t emplat es again out of cardboard f or t he size and shape of my shields and t hen cut t hem af t er t hey were correct f rom 1/8 inch clear acrylic. I heat ed t he plast ic wit h t he heat gun t hen bent t he st raight f olds of t wo of t he shields using wooden blocks t o apply pressure and make t he bends. For t he large shield t hat f olds back out of t he way on a hinge I heat ed t he plast ic and used t he same t emplat e I used f or t he curve of t he blade cover, but wit h some alt erat ions t o give me a drip lip on t he f ront edge and a f lat vert ical port ion t o raise it t o t he correct height . It needed t o be higher t han anyt hing else near t he st one so I had plent y of room. I want ed t he f ront shield t o just be a lit t le higher t han t he drip lip of t he curved swing able shield over t he middle of t he saw. You can see t he f inished shields in t he pict ures. I made a shield f or t he lef t side of t he saw just t o keep t he remaining spray t hat when in t hat direct ion but it needed no heat ing and bending. T he coolant needed t o be squirt ed at t he edge of t he blade near where t he st one was being cut . But I did not want a huge st ream. So I cut of f a lengt h of copper t ubing saved f rom an old ref rigerat ion unit t hat I had saved t he compressor out of . I needed a vacuum pump f or high volt age raref ied gas illuminat ion experiment s 20 years ago. I cleaned up t he copper t ubing and f ormed it int o a curve t hat mimicked t he cont our of t he blade cover because it would be next t o t he blade cover when inst alled. I t ook a t iny t ubular rivet f rom
my clock making supplies and would use t hat as my nozzle f or t he coolant sprayer. It had an opening of only about 30 – 40 t housandt hs of an inch. It would nicely rest rict t he amount of coolant dispensed and make a good st ream. I drilled a t iny hole in t he side of t he copper t ubing near t he end which I had bent t o cross over in f ront of t he blade. I soldered t he t ubular clock rivet int o t he hole and closed t he copper t ube wit h solder at t he same t ime. Down at t he ot her end of t he copper t ube I soldered a t hick brass plat e wit h t wo holes t o t he side of t he copper t ube t o mount t he copper coolant supply t ube t o t he saw f rame. T he t ube now very solidly mount ed just needed a piece of plast ic aquarium t ubing and a pump t o make it work.
T his is a closeup of t he coolant spray nozzle. T he way t hat it is at t ached and aligned can be seen in t he next phot ograph.
T here is lit t le else t o describe. I needed t o change t he AC elect rical cord f or t he saw mot or. Af t er 30 years it was due f or a change. I run t he saw of f a Variac t o cont rol t he speed a lit t le bit and have used t he swit ch on t he Variac, so I just made a wat erproof plast ic box on a plast ic st and f or t he cord t o mot or wire connect ions. So t hat is it , I got some 8 inch diamond blades t hat were st ill t hin and put one on and made my f irst cut s. I picked one of t he most f ract ured pieces of Al Haggounia t hat I could f ind and mount ed it on a mandrel. I made seven cut s one af t er t he ot her moving right across t he widt h of t he st one. T he slices were so smoot h t hat t hey almost did not need t o be lapped. It cut wit h so lit t le st ress t hat t he slices did not f all apart on t he f ract ures. I got rock mud all over t he saw but proved it worked. I keep it clean and probably always will because t his may be t he big home engineering project of my lif e.
T his is an image of t he saw ready t o run wit h an 8 inch blade. I hope some of t he readers f ound t his int erest ing I know it was pret t y f ar f rom t he normal discussion of met eorit es and probably was pret t y dry st uf f . But , maybe it gave some ent husiast s a f ew ideas f or saws of t heir own.
T hese are t he f irst slices I cut on t he saw. T he met eorit e is Al Haggounia and it was f ull of f ract ures. You can see how smoot h t he surf ace is t hey have not yet been lapped. As a f un experiment I got t o t he very end of a st one and decided t o see if I could split t he last remaining lit t le bit at t ached t o t he mandrel. So here is a shot of t hat piece af t er cut t ing. T he f eeler gauge is .014 inches and t he rock slices on each side are only about .028 inches. I lef t it slight ed uncut so it would hold t oget her f or phot os.
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Meteorite Times Magazine El Mirage Dry Lake Clean-up By Robert Verish Volunteers needed to help “clean-up” El Mirage Dry Lake.
T he t it le of t his art icle may mislead you int o t hinking t hat I am looking f or volunt eers t o help clean up all t he remaining met eorit es f rom El Mirage Dry Lake (well, maybe I am). Act ually, t his “clean-up” is really an event where a large group of volunt eers come out t o El Mirage OHV Recreat ion Area (t wice a year) t o help t he Friends of El Mirage (and t he BLM) wit h t heir clean-up and maint enance of t he area. T he 2014 “Spring Clean-up” was held on May 3rd. T he “Fall Clean-up” will be held on Oct ober 25t h. And f rom what I have learned f rom past “Clean-ups”, t his is a great opport unit y f or public out reach (regarding met eorit es), and t o promot e met eorit e-recovery t o a large group of people (while act ually at a drylake). Because of last years f ederal government shut -down, t he Oct ober 2013 clean-up was cancelled. T hat f act , and t he f orecast of very high t emperat ures predict ed f or t he Mojave Desert , result ed in a lower t han average t urnout (85 volunt eers) f or t his recent May 3rd “Spring Clean-up”. Past t urnout s have had as many as 175 volunt eers! T hat ’s a lot of people at one gat hering all walking about on a drylake, bent over collect ing ref use, picking-up met al-debris wit h magnet s, and leveling hummocks wit h rakes.
Ample opport unit y f or someone t o “accident ly” f ind a met eorit e. It would only be prudent t o have a “met eorit e expert ” on hand t o conduct public out reach and t o help ident if y any possible met eorit e f inds. T his was exact ly what I suggest ed t o t he Friends of El Mirage (t he coordinat ors of t he “Spring Clean-up”), and much t o my surprise I received a prompt reply f rom t he Barst ow BLM. Apparent ly, not only did t he FoEM agree wit h my suggest ion, but t he BLM agreed, as well, and ext ended t o me a personal invit at ion t o t heir next clean-up and t o “set up an inf ormat ion t able and even bring a f ew samples”. Ever since a $15 f ee per vehicle f or ent ry ont o El Mirage was est ablished, I have had no luck in convincing my f riends t o join me in a group met eorit e-hunt at t his Dense Collect ion Area (DCA). But af t er I report ed back t o t hem about t his last Clean-up, and how volunt eers get a f ree overnight pass, t hey are now want ing t o join-in at t he next Clean-up. So, if you would be int erest ed in joining us in t his out reach ef f ort , but have some quest ions about what volunt eers do, here is an overview of t he last Clean-up: T he day st art ed of f at t he Visit or Cent er wit h a breakf ast at 7:00AM (a $3 donat ion is suggest ed). T hen regist rat ion st art ed at 7:30, f ollowed by t he f ormat ion of work crews. By 8:00AM t hese crews had already headed out t he drylake area t o begin work. Work crew project s included general clean-up and t rash collect ion, lakebed maint enance, Joshua T ree f ence repair, and using magnet s t o remove nails and ot her sharp object s f rom t he lakebed and campsit e areas.T he work crews st ayed out unt il around noon, ret urning t o t he Visit ors Cent er f or a BBQ lunch t hat was served at 12:30 and t hat was f ollowed by a raf f le drawing (t he 50/50 drawing began at 1:00PM). So, t o recap, Pre-Regist ered Volunt eers receive: a f ull breakf ast ($3 donat ion suggest ed) a BBQ lunch (donat ion suggest ed) a f ree raf f le t icket (held at luncht ime) and f ree permit t o overnight camping f acilit ies. T his was a day of good company and good f un, and was a chance t o give back t o one of t he more popular public areas.
Breakf ast st art s at 7AM f or clean-up crew volunt eers.
On average more t han 100 volunt eers sign-up f or t he “Clean-up” which means
it will be easy t o meet people and make new f riends.
Volunt eers f rom SCT A are eager t o remove rocks and small sand-dunes f rom t he racet rack port ion of t he lake-bed. T his mant enance crew knows where t he rock-pile is locat ed.
Clean-up crew on t heir way back f rom a work “project � sit e, ret urning t o t he Visit ors Cent er f or a much deserved compliment ary lunch.
One of t he CORVA volunt eers display t he magnet s t hat are used f or picking
up “met al-debris�.
Here is an example of t he kind of met al debris t hat is picked-up by t he cleanup crew wit h t heir magnet -devices. Unf ort unat ely, no met eorit es were recovered. Maybe someone will get lucky at t he next Clean-up?
EMDL 004 is classif ed as “W0″ which means t hat it is unweat hered! Essent ially, it is a f reshly f allen met eorit e. T his means t hat relat ively lit t le t ime has t ranspired since t his st one f ell, so, t here’s lit t le chance t hat ot her st ones f rom t his f all having t raveled very f ar f rom where ever t hey landed. T hey, t oo, are probably st ill sit t ing on t he alluvium wait ing t o be f ound. Maybe st ones even larger t han 271g. Had t here been a wit nessed f ireball event prior t o f inding t his “W0″ st one, t his would be highly publicized. Why t here haven’t been dozens of met eorit e-hunt ers clamoring about t his “f all” & searching hard t his area, is a myst ery t o me.
Google Eart h View : of El Mirage Dry Lake – San Bernardino Count y, CA – showing EMDL-DCA and met eorit e f ind locat ions.
Aerial View : of a wet El Mirage Dry Lake – San Bernardino Count y, CA – showing many shorelines Post Script: A spokesperson f or t he FoEM (Friends of El Mirage) want ed me
t o ment ion t hat , if you are unable t o at t end one of t he publicized Clean-ups, people who want t o volunt eer t o clean up are always welcome at anyt ime of t he year. Of course, you would miss-out on all of t he socializing t hat comes wit h a “Clean-up”, but you may st ill be able t o negot iat e a f ree overnight pass. If you do go, let us know if you f ind a met eorit e. And Good Luck! Ref erences: Met eorit es wit h Name = “El Mirage Dry Lake” f rom t he Met eorit ical Bullet in: t he search result s f or all met eorit es f ound on “El Mirage Dry Lake, Calif ornia, USA” – Published in Met eorit ical Societ y – Met eorit ical Bullet in, Dat abase. El Mirage Dry Lake 004 f rom t he Met eorit ical Bullet in: t he ent ry f or EMDL 004 – Published in Met eorit ical Societ y – Met eorit ical Bullet in, Dat abase. T he Digit al-Desert websit e f or images and links about El Mirage Dry Lake. Geology of El Mirage t he original geologic hist ory of t he Ant elope Valley. Barst ow BLM Of f ice t he BLM websit e f or t he EMDL Of f -Highway Vehicle Recreat ion Area : El Mirage Cooperat ive Management Area is now a Fee Area. El Mirage Days t he BLM websit e f or t he 2006 “Clean-up”. Sout hern Calif ornia T iming Associat ion t he SCT A of f icial websit e. CORVA t he websit e f or CA Of f -Road Vehicle Associat ion. Friends of El Mirage t heir of f icial websit e. El Mirage Dry Lake, Calif ornia websit e f or “Int erest ing El Mirage Fact s”. 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 Layered Chondrules in Allende CV3 John Kashuba T hese phot os were t aken of f our t hin sect ions t hat were deaccessioned by a US universit y. T hey appear t o have been made by dif f erent people and at dif f erent t imes. On one, t he cover slip cement has t urned yellow. Some have labeling engraved on t he slide behind t he sample. Some of t his can be at t ribut ed t o t he sample size being very large, covering most of t he slide. Some samples have been polished a bit t hinner t han t he st andard 0.03mm. T his might have been int ent ional since it helps reveal st ruct ures t hat are ot herwise obscured by t he f ine grained mat rix of t his t ype 3 carbonaceous chondrit e. T he layers in t hese chondrules dist inguish t hemselves by dif f erences in t ext ure and composit ion. And t hese result f rom successive episodes of accret ion and heat ing. Layers t end t o be f iner grained t oward t he out side of chondrules. We see dif f erent t ypes of cores.
Core is a single cryst al of olivine.
T his is t he same view as t he phot o above. T he polarizing f ilt ers have been rot at ed put t ing t he core grain int o opt ical ext inct ion t o highlight it s halo of f ine grained mat erial.
Coarse core surrounded by f iner mineral grains.
Anot her single cryst al core.
A barred olivine chondrule core wit h an unt idy f ine grained surround.
T wo barred olivine chondrules and a layered chondrule.
Bot h chondrules have barred olivine chondrule cores. In t he upper chondrule t he bars are blue and red.
A jumble of bars is at t he cent er of t he chondrule surrounded by medium size grains and, t oward t he edge, layers of opaque mat erial.
T he black circles and curved t races are met al. T hey show bet t er in t he ref lect ed light phot o below.
T he met al blebs and mineral grains in t he cent er were surrounded by t wo met al shells bef ore t he chondrule was sliced open f or inspect ion.
A 5mm diamet er porphyrit ic pyroxene chondrule (wit h poikilit ic t ext ure) is surrounded by dark and f inely cryst alline layers.
Coarse cent er wit h f iner surrounding layers. Some mineral grains were plucked f rom t he cent er of t he chondrule during t hin sect ion preparat ion.
0.66mm wide layered chondrule.
T he out er layer is a barred chondrule so we know t hat part was f ully molt en at some t ime. When it solidif ied it s int ernal cryst al lat t ice grew in alignment wit h t he adjacent core cryst al.
Meteorite Times Magazine A Sweet Chlum Moldavite Dumbell By Norm Lehrman
Over t he years, we’ve only handled a f ew moldavit e dumbells and even t hose were not great . Recent ly we were of f ered t his gem by an Aust rian collect or (and we accept ed!) 5.4 grams, Chlum, Czech Republic. A real beaut y.
Meteorite Times Magazine HARRIMAN (of) Anne Black T he Harriman f ile is much bigger t han t he ot hers wit h f ew pict ures but many let t ers det ailing a long, convolut ed and dif f icult negot iat ion wit h many players. It was carried out by an associat e of Oscar Monnig, who goes by t he name of Vega or Bunch, not his real name according t o Dr. Ehlmann, a resourcef ul person who not only did not use his real name, but even resort ed t o using coded messages. T he f irst document in t he f ile is t his index card dat ed Spring 1933, t he f irst sign t hat a met eorit e had been f ound in T ennessee.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU Not a very encouraging st art , but Mr. Monnig was persist ent , and when you were looking f or any kind of inf ormat ion in t he early 1930s, you wrot e t o t he Post mast er! And t hat exact ly what he did in April 1935:
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU Not encouraging eit her, but t hings soon improved, and by June t he exist ence of t he met eorit e was conf irmed and “Bunch” was on it s t rail alt hough he didn’t seem t o part icularly like or t rust t he people he was dealing wit h.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU And t hen t he whole t hing t urns int o a shell game wit h t he met eorit e as t he pea. Who act ually has t he met eorit e? Mr. Davis in Harriman says it is Mr. Parks in Chat t anooga (locally called Ross Landing), or maybe E.L. Kenyon also in Chat t anooga. Or maybe it is Dr. Cross, a pediat rician in Knoxville, or could it be his f at her, also a doct or. Some t ell Mr. Monnig’s envoy, now signing Vega, t hat t hey have an of f er on t he met eorit e, ot hers deny it ; eit her way “Vega” insist s his of f er remains $1 per pound, but only af t er he examines it . T here seems t o be no t rust bet ween anyone of t hose mult iple players. But ‘Vega’ is not giving up, as he explains t o Oscar Monnig in a long and convolut ed let t er.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU By July Vega-Bunch is a bit more encouraging. He has heard f rom t he Doct ors Cross, f at her and son, who seem t o know more t han t hey init ially let on, t hey advise him t o be pat ient . And now t he pea, hmm‌ t he met eorit e, is said t o be wit h Mr. Parks. So while wait ing, Vega-Bunch writ es poet ry, t hat he sends t o Mr. Monnig.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU By August t he shell Game is heat ing up, and Vega-Bunch is resort ing t o sending a coded message t o Oscar Monnig. Yes, f inally, it seems t hat t he met eorit e has been locat ed, but it does not mean t hat t he holder of t he pea will let it go. Oscar Monnig only wrot e t he t ranslat ion of t he f irst line, anyone care t o t ry deciphering t he rest ?
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU T he next day t he news is discouraging: t he doct ors have locat ed t he met eorit e, it is in Chat t anooga but t hey had t o hire a lawyer t o help recover it . What f ollows is Vega-Bunch long diat ribe about t he legal syst em and local judges in what he considers t o be back woods. But again t he doct ors t ell him t o be pat ient , so he wait s. And by Oct ober, he is st ill wait ing.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU But by mid-Oct ober, he seems t o be running of pat ience and goes t o Chat t anooga, where he get s inf ormat ion on some of t he shell-game players. He now knows t hat Mr. Kenyon has t he pea (met eorit e) but t he problem is f inding Mr. Kenyon. He explains all t hat in a long let t er t o Mr. Monnig. Communicat ions were indeed dif f icult in 1935!
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU In a f ollow up let t er, he gives a f ew more det ails and int roduces a new game player, a Mr. Hembree t he act ual f inder of t he met eorit e, f inally. But he is no closer t o get t ing t he met eorit e as all t hose players are f ight ing bet ween t hemselves, t hreat ening t o sue each ot her and probably lying. T his very pat ient man, so f ar, now f eels like he “could eat nails”.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU And t hen, only a week lat er, t his t elegram: T he shell-game is over; somehow t he met eorit e has been f ound and is on it s way t o T exas and Mr. Monnig’s of f ice. Sorry, t here is no explanat ion in t he f ile as t o how t his happened so quickly.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU And here it is f inally, t he whole Harrison met eorit e, in a pict ure st amped on t he back by t he Smit hsonian Inst it ut e, but not dat ed.
But as it is quit e obvious by now, Mr. Monnig was a very t horough and persist ent person, and he needed more inf ormat ion. We don’t know when he wrot e t o Mr. Hembree, t he last person t o join t he shell-game, but in August 1950 he received t his let t er f rom t he f inder of t he met eorit e, who conf irms t hat yes, indeed, he is t he f inder but seems t o be just as baf f led as everyone else about t he rest of t he st ory.
All document at ion is Propert y of t he Monnig Collect ion – T CU Af t er all t hose t roubles and t ribulat ions, t he Harriman met eorit e is now comf ort ably set t led in t he Monnig collect ion, it has been classif ied as a f ine Oct ahedrit e, group IVA, wit h 7.96% nickel, and it has a beaut if ul sharp Widmanst at t en pat t ern.
Meteorite Times Magazine Meteorite of the Month: Gibeon Paul Harris 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.
Gibeon Met eorit e 1616 grams. 230 mm long – Copyright Jim St rope. Iron, IVA T KW 26 met ric t ons. Fall not observed. Found 1836 in Great Namaqualand, Namibia. T he f ragment s of t he met eorit e in t he st rewn f ield are dispersed over an ellipt ical area 275 km long and 100 km wide. Jim writ es: When sit t ing in t his posit ion it reminds me of a f ireball. Submit Pict ures t o Met eorit e Pict ures 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