Meteorite Times Magazine

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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 Juvinas: An Easily Distinguished Commune Contribution Martin Horejsi

We are just six short years from the bicentennial of the fall of the Juvinas, France meteorite.

Back in 1821, an enormously important meteorite contribution fell from the sky. As a 90kg eucrite achondirte, it became a staple in meteorite laboratories all over the world and throughout the past two centuries.

The story of the fall was detailed in the groundbreaking book Minerals From Earth And Sky, Part 1: The Story Of Meteorites by George P. Merrill. The 1929 tome contained important facts about Juvinas fall that still resonate today. Merrill reprinted the translated words about the fall from the Thomson’s Annals of Philosophy (Vol. 20, pp.

73-74) that was published in 1822.

The well-known and now widely distributed Juvinas stone, which fell on June 15, 1821, has been the subject of numerous notices, from among which the following is selected for reproduction.

We, Mayor of the Commune of Juvinas, Canton d’Antraigues, Arrondissement de Privas, departement de I’Ardeche, report, that on the 15th of this present June, warned by a frightful noise, which was heard in our commune, and those which surround it, about three o’clock in the afternoon, we apprehended that some great and extraordinary event was about to effect a general destruction in nature, which obliged us successively to adopt regulations to satisfy us that no one in our jurisdiction had been the victim of the phenomenon which at first appeared to be inexplicable.

At length, after some days had elapsed, we were informed that a meteor, of which history furnishes no similar account, had burst upon the mountain de I’Oulette, in the hamlet of Cros du Libonez, forming a part of our commune; and, according to Delmas, who is seventy years of age, its appearance was preceded and announced by two strong explosions, occurring nearly together, resembling the discharges of two large cannons, and followed by a frightful noise, that continued for more than twenty minutes, which spread alarm and consternation amongst the inhabitants, who believed they should be immediately swallowed up by some abyss ready to open under their feet; the flocks fled, and the goats and sheep collected in groups.

H. A. Ward noted in an article about the “Values of Meteorites” published in 1904 that, “The meteorite of Juvinas, France, of which there was originally upwards of fifty kilograms, has been broken up and distributed among sixtytwo collections, of which three report one gram each and nineteen others less than ten grams each.”

Eucrite is a Greek word for “easily distinguished.” While I don’t doubt that is an appropriate translation, I find eucrites to often be less than “easily” distinguished. If in a pile of chondrites, the eucrite might be easy to pick out, but in a pile of earth rocks, especially of the igneous type, with few exceptions, eucrites blend in like any other geologic citizen of this planet. Some eucrites including Chervonyi Kut and Millbillillie are exceptions with the snowflake interiors, but most others are a fairly uniform crystalized grey.

As a meteorite collector who specializes in historic witnessed falls, it is especially enjoyable to skip back in time using century-old texts as the stepping-stones. Arriving at the fall with crusted specimen in hand only makes the journey more memorable.

As my specimen of Juvinas was marching through time to meet me, it picked up a souvenir along the way in the form of an original specimen card from the Museum National D’Historie Naturelle in Paris.

Although my specimen only represents about one-third of the mass listed on the card, I did acquire the sample from the research collection to which it was originally provided.

‌Until next time.

Meteorite Times Magazine The Meteorites of Summer James Tobin

Summer 2014 is just about gone. I did not do any meteorite hunting yet this year. Astrophotography has been taking up most of my out of town time. But, I might try really hard to get one trip in to hunt in the fall if I can tear myself away from the scope and camera.

But, even though I did not get any hunting in this has been a great year for meteorites. I have cut enough to make another big bag of dust. I have organized what I have to still cut. Organization not being one of my strongest suits that is saying something. Each individual stone in its own box. Wow. I almost never cut any stones that are very beautiful on the outside. They are usually ugly broken jagged chunks with little fusion crust left. Or they are round lumps of rock best described by the term “space potato� with little going for them in appearance. But, as the old saying goes about judging books by their covers, never judge a meteorite from its old broken or worn later stage of terrestrialization. Each one is both a challenge and a opportunity. And this spring and summer have presented some great examples of both.

Most of the really attractive stones just get a window lapped onto them or at most a single clean up cut and then a lap. This does not give the same opportunity to see as much of the insides as cutting off many slices. I really like it when I find something truly interesting and can see it in several slices. Starting small and growing and then diminishing back to small again. It is like what happens in a CAT scan. I get a little glimpse into the way the extra

large chondrule or inclusion was situated in the stone.

Some stones are so oddly shaped that getting them lined up in a good way to cut them with the least waste and the fewest resets can take some time and effort. Some stones have cracks and you know before you start that it is likely that the stone will fall apart when the cracks are reached by the blade. So standing there ever vigilant for the moment when a chunk falls loose or worse shifts position makes cutting interesting. I had a few of those this summer.

Last week I cleaned iron meteorites for half a day. I can see the bottom of the box on those now after a few years.

I doubt that there will be many more of that location coming along. I have really enjoyed having them to work on but that is the way of this business and hobby. We have a meteorite location for a while and then the supply is absorbed into the collections of the world. Then we offer another to bring more wonder and fascination to collectors.

I cut into a few stones thus far this year that were ugly on the outside and extra wonderful inside. Most notably I guess is NWA 8384 which was not attractive in any way and had very little fusion crust left. But, when I made the first cut and saw all the tight packed pristine chondrules it suddenly became one of those days that instantly goes stellar. I cut a couple more slices and took one to the lap and smoothed it up. Washed this slice off in 99.9% alcohol and went inside to take some images to send to UCLA. I had two slices and a chunk in FedEx the next morning to get classified. This stone went from a formless chunk of unclassified meteorite to “wonderful best hope” for fulfilling my goal of getting a beautiful type 3 classified. And it did all that in about two minutes of saw time.

NWA 8384 as it became designated did turn out to be a LL3. That was another happy day for me when I got the email of the classification. But, I cut into some other very nice stones in the last few months. One that has not been classified and that I began calling “metal rich black” was another nondescript, nothing special stone until the endpiece fell free after the first cut. The outside was smooth and there was no remaining fusion crust. There was no visible metal on the outside showing as shiny spots. Nothing to hint that inside it would be so rich in metal. The matrix was black with some chondrules but the metal was fantastic. After cutting a batch of slices I gave it a date number code to keep track of what was cut and what was not. Its another great meteorite to enhance collections around the world.

Just as you are thinking that you know what to expect with a particular meteorite you will cut a slice that has something that is totally unexpected. I have many times looked at a slice I have just made and seen a strange metal inclusion or a large seemingly out of place chondrule. Meteorites are always full of surprises. I think that is part of what brings me back to the saw and keeps the work still fresh after several decades. Sometimes I have the time to photograph the unusual things, but often I do not. The slices get smoothed and maybe polished and then go off to be sold. In the end I am really never more than one of the many pairs of hands that a specimen will pass through in its hopefully very long time in collections.

Things have really changed over the years. There was a time in the past when you just did not see very many pallasites for sale and you never saw them etched. I used to do quite a bit of etching and I occasionally still do. But, the work done today is just remarkable by the specialists in meteorite etching. They etch pallasites and mesosiderites, as well as irons now. I remember a number a years ago when I saw for the first time an etched slice of Mundribilla. I was just thrilled and thought to myself I have to etch one for myself or buy a nicely etched slice. You know that remains one of the specimens I have not gotten; it is still on the list. I did etch a few small Gibeon meteorites during the summer. I had a large batch to clean and as I was working my way through the pile I picked out a few that were nearly perfectly flat on one side. With really little work and almost no loss of material I smoothed those sides into mirror polished faces. Then the big decision. Do I use nitol or ferric chloride? I have used both but for the last decade or so I have found myself gravitating to ferric chloride. You have to watch it and stop at the right moment and I find it works a little faster than nitol. I get less of the staining and dullness that can happen with nitric acid. A high perfect polish is the most important thing with it. I did those pieces and who knows it may be

another few years before I do any etching again.

There never seems to be any lack of work for either Paul or I with the meteorite part of our lives. Writing, cutting, polishing, imaging for me and plenty of imaging, packing, website maintenance and customer relations for him. But, we both still find it interesting and fun and that is what keeps us at it. Far more important than the work are the friends we have made. So summer is ending and we are still waiting for Tucson to come around again so that we can connect once more with all our too seldom seen friends.

We get out with our scopes and cameras a little more often then we do with our magnets and metal detectors. But, I would guess there is a meteorite hunting trip out there in our future too. And who knows when a wanderer from space might come down and we would be packing stuff and jumping on the road to look for a piece or two.

Meteorite-Times Magazine Meteorite Market Trends

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Meteorite Times Magazine Novato – Collision History Revealed in California Rock Robert Verish

The long anticipated paper by Peter Jenniskens and The Novato Meteorite Consortium has finally been published.

Novato (N04) – 4th stone recovered from the 4th California fall.

The meteorite that fell onto the roof of Lisa Webber’s house in Novato, California, on Oct. 17, 2012, has revealed a detailed picture of its origin and tumultuous journey through space and Earth’s atmosphere. Peter Jenniskens led an international consortium of fifty researchers that studied the recovered meteorite and published their findings in the August issue of the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

Peter Jenniskens, who is a meteor astronomer and is the principal investigator for the consortium study, works for the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. He recently announced, “Our investigation has revealed a long history that dates to when the moon formed from the Earth after a giant impact.”

The fall of the Novato meteorite was monitored by Peter Jenniskens’ astronomical surveillance network, CAMS (Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance), which gave researchers something of a guess about where the object may have came down. The early reports that it was somewhere near Martinez, were unfounded. But days later, after hearing on the news that a meteorite fell (and remembering hearing a noise on the roof that same night), Novato resident Lisa Webber reported that she had recovered a rock that must have fallen on her roof. That stone turned out to be the first of the (currently 6) meteorite fragments to be recovered (and the reason these objects are now called the Novato meteorite).

Over the next several weeks, five more stones, most of them are just a couple of centimeters across, turned up within a few kilometers of Lisa Webber’s home – - a story that is retold on the CAMS website. These rocks revealed the evidence that allowed the scientists to piece together what they call “the space rock’s tumultuous journey.”

Qing-zhu Yin, professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California – Davis, said, “We determined that the meteorite likely got its black appearance from massive impact shocks causing a collisional resetting event 4.472 billion years ago, roughly 64-126 million years after the formation of the solar system,” and added, “We now suspect that the moon-forming impact may have scattered debris all over the inner solar system and hit the parent body of the Novato meteorite.”

Jenniskens successfully measured the Novato approach orbit and confirmed that the Gefion asteroid family in the middle of the main asteroid belt can be the source of the meteorites.

Kees Welten, a cosmochemist at UC Berkeley, said, “Novato broke from one of the Gefion family asteroids nine million years ago.”

Kunihiko Nishiizumi, a cosmochemist also of UC Berkeley, added, “But the rock that was to become Novato, may have been buried in a larger object until about one million years ago.”

Derek Sears, a meteoriticist working for the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, California, at Ames said, “We can tell the rock was heated, but the cause of the heating is unclear. It seems that Novato was hit again.”

The researchers have collaborated to produce this scenario of violent episodes dating back nearly 4.5 billion years and ending on Oct. 17, 2012, when the bolide broke up and fell on and around the Marin County suburb of Novato: 4.472 billion years ago (±31 million years): The Novato’s parent body is struck by debris from the same “Great Bombardment” that formed the Earth’s moon. 470 million years ago: Another large impact smashes the Novato’s parent body; it’s now part of an asteroid in a belt of cosmic debris orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.

9 million years ago: The Novato portion of the parent body breaks off, forming a meteoroid, but could still be the interior portion of a larger piece of space rock. 1 million years ago: The meteoroid that will become Novato continues to break apart. 100,000 years ago: Chemical studies suggest that the Novato meteoroid was involved in one last collision. The Novato portion of this meteoroid starts a slow spiral into the Sun. Oct. 17, 2012, 7:45 P.M. PDT: The Novato meteoroid, now more than a foot across but weighing less than 200pounds, hits the Earth’s atmosphere at 9 miles per second, producing a fireball-meteor, but soon breaks up over the North Bay, falling to the ground to produce the Novato meteorites.

Daniel Glavin at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, led a team to search the Novato meteorites for amino acids – molecules present in and essential for life on Earth – and detected some unusual nonprotein amino acids that are now very rare on Earth but indigenous to the Novato meteorite.

Researchers were surprised to find that all these impacts did not completely destroy the organic compounds in this meteorite. Qinghao Wu and Richard Zare of Stanford University in California measured a rich array of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds – complex, carbon-rich molecules that are both widespread and abundant throughout the universe.

Jenniskens says that, “The quick recovery of the Novato meteorites made these studies possible.”

The research was supported by the NASA Near Earth Object Observation, Planetary Astronomy and Cosmochemistry programs, and the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The following is the Abstract and the Table of Contents as published in: Meteoritics & Planetary Science | Volume 49, Issue 8, pages 1388–1425, August 2014[Copyright Clearance Center - License Number: 3462651289692 ]

The fragmentation of the Novato meteorite on Oct. 17, 2012, as depicted in a horizontally mirrored image to show the progression of the event (from left to right).

(Credit: Robert P. Moreno Jr., Jim Albers and Peter Jenniskens/NASA-SETI)

Fall, Recovery, and Characterization of the Novato L6 Chondrite Breccia (The Novato Meteorite Consortium) : Peter JENNISKENS (1,2), Alan E. RUBIN (3, Qing-Zhu YIN4, Derek W. G. SEARS (2,5, Scott A. SANDFORD (2), Michael E. ZOLENSKY (6), Alexander N. KROT (7), Leigh BLAIR (1), Darci KANE (8), Jason UTAS (9), Robert VERISH (10), Jon M. FRIEDRICH (11,12), Josh WIMPENNY (4), Gary R. EPPICH (13), Karen ZIEGLER (14), Kenneth L. VEROSUB (4), Douglas J. ROWLAND (15), Jim ALBERS (1), Peter S. GURAL (1), Bryant GRIGSBY (1), Marc D. FRIES (6), Robert MATSON (16), Malcolm JOHNSTON (17), Elizabeth SILBER (18), Peter BROWN (18), Akane YAMAKAWA (4), Matthew E. SANBORN (4), Matthias LAUBENSTEIN (19), Kees C. WELTEN (20), Kunihiko NISHIIZUMI (20), Matthias M. M. MEIER (21,22), Henner BUSEMANN (23), Patricia CLAY (23), Marc W. CAFFEE (24), Phillipe SCHMITT-KOPPLIN (25,26), Norbert HERTKORN (25), Daniel P. GLAVIN (27), Michael P. CALLAHAN (27), Jason P. DWORKIN (27), Qinghao WU (28), Richard N. ZARE (28), Monica GRADY (29), Sasha VERCHOVSKY (29), Vacheslav EMEL’YANENKO (30), Sergey NAROENKOV (30), David L. CLARK (18), Beverly GIRTEN (2), Peter S. WORDEN (2)

(The Novato Meteorite Consortium) :

1 ) SETI Institute, Carl Sagan Center, Mountain View, California 94043, USA 2 ) NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA 3 ) Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095–1567, USA 4 ) Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616–8605, USA 5 ) BAER Institute, Mountain View, California 94043, USA 6 ) Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77801, USA 7 ) Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822, USA 8 ) Buck Institute, Novato, California 94945, USA 9 ) Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095–1567, USA 10) Meteorite Recovery Laboratory, P.O. Box 463084, Escondido, California 92046, USA 11) Department of Chemistry, Fordham University, Bronx, New York 10458, USA 12) Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024, USA 13) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Glenn Seaborg Institute, Livermore, California 94550, USA 14) Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131–0001, USA 15) Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA 16) S.A.I.C., San Diego, California 92121, USA 17) US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA 18) Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada 19) Lab. Naz. del Gran Sasso, Inst. Naz. di Fiscia Nucleare, I-67010 Assergi (AQ), Italy 20) Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA 21) Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Z€urich, CH-8092 Z€urich, Switzerland 22) Department of Geology, Lund University, SE-22362 Lund, Sweden 23) School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (SEAES), University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK 24) Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA 25) B.G.C., Helmholtz Zentrum M€unchen, D-85764 M€unchen, Germany 26) A.L.C., Technische Universit€at M€unchen-TUM, D-85354 Freising, Germany 27) Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA 28) Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305–5080, USA 29) Planetary and Space Science Research Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK 30) Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INASAN), Moscow 119017, Russia Abstract – The Novato L6 chondrite fragmental breccia fell in California on 17 October 2012, and was recovered after the Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) project determined the meteor’s trajectory between 95 and 46 km altitude. The final fragmentation from 42 to 22 km altitude was exceptionally well documented by digital photographs. The first sample was recovered before rain hit the area. First results from a consortium study of the meteorite’s characterization, cosmogenic and radiogenic nuclides, origin, and conditions of the fall are presented. Some meteorites did not retain fusion crust and show evidence of spallation. Before entry, the meteoroid was 35 ± 5 cm in diameter (mass 80 ± 35 kg) with a cosmic-ray exposure age of 9 ± 1 Ma, if it had a one-stage exposure history. A two-stage exposure history is more likely, with lower shielding in the last few Ma. Thermoluminescence data suggest a collision event within the last ~0.1 Ma. Novato probably belonged to the class of shocked L chondrites that have a common shock age of 470 Ma, based on the U,Th-He age of 420 ± 220 Ma. The measured orbits of Novato, Jesenice, and Innisfree are consistent with a proposed origin of these shocked L chondrites in the Gefion asteroid family, perhaps directly via the 5:2 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. Novato experienced a stronger compaction than did other L6 chondrites of shock-stage S4 Despite this, a freshly broken surface shows a wide range of organic compounds.

Source: Meteoritics & Planetary Science 1–38 (2014) doi: 10.1111/maps.12323

The fragmentation of the Novato meteorite on Oct. 17, 2012, as depicted in a horizontally mirrored image to show the progression of the event (from left to right).

(Robert P. Moreno Jr., Jim Albers and Peter Jenniskens/NASA-SETI)

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS METEORITE PROPERTIES AND CLASSIFICATION Mechanical Properties and Magnetic Susceptibility Petrography and Mineralogy Bulk Chemical Composition Oxygen and Chromium Isotopes CONDITIONS OF THE FALL AND PRE-ATMOSPHERIC ORBIT Trajectory and Pre-Atmospheric Orbit Light Curve and Initial Mass Dark Flight and Source Energy Fragmentation Ablation Spallation THE METEOROID IN SPACE Meteoroid Diameter Cosmic-Ray Exposure Age Thermal Resetting Events More Recent Heating Events Collisional Compaction ORGANIC MATTER Methanol Soluble Organics Amino Acids

Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons Macromolecular Carbon and Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes DISCUSSION Possible Source Region in the Asteroid Main Belt Pre-Atmospheric Detection CONCLUSIONS Acknowledgments Editorial Handling REFERENCES

List of Figures (Fig.) : Fig. 1. All recovered Novato meteorites, with sample identification chart for Novato N01 (scale in mm).

Fig. 2. Photographic images of cut Novato faces showing the brecciated chondritic texture…

Fig. 3. X-ray CT imagery of Novato N05 and N06…

Fig. 4. Backscattering electron (BSE) images of Novato N06.

Fig. 5. Mean CI-normalized abundances of lithophiles, siderophiles, and moderately volatile elements in Novato…

Fig. 6. CI chondrite normalized rare earth element pattern of fragments of Novato N01, N05, and N06.

Fig. 7. Combined elemental maps of Novato N06…

Fig. 8. Combined elemental maps of Novato N06…

Fig. 9. Diagrams, showing Novato isotope data together with H, L, and LL chondrites…

Fig. 10. Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance detections of the November 17 fireball…

Fig. 11. Trajectory solutions derived from different combinations of cameras … and the station locations…

Fig. 12. Observed minus calculated values for azimuth and elevation of the meteor in all video frames…

Fig. 13. Novato fireball visual brightness as seen from a distance of 100 km, and the approximate deceleration profile.

Fig. 14. Doppler weather radar returns (KMUX 2:39:44 UT)…

Fig. 15. Fragmentation and relative deceleration at the end of the trajectory in a compilation of digital photographs…

Fig. 16. A, B) Details of the fusion crust of N01, and C, D) Evidence for spallation in Novato N03…

Fig. 17. Stereoplot of major axis orientations of all individual metal grains in two different stones of the Novato fall.

Fig. 18. Degree of compaction…

Fig. 19. Ion cyclotron resonance Fourier transform mass spectrometry (ICRFT/MS).

Fig. 20. One-dimensional 1H NMR spectra (800 MHz, CD3OD)…

Fig. 21. L2MS spectrum of Novato N01-1b.

Fig. 22. Data from stepped combustion-gas source-mass spectrometry of light and dark lithologies from Novato 01-1e.

List of Tables:

Table 1. Overview of recovered meteorites.

Table 2. Summary of XRF-derived major elemental composition data for Novato N06 (slab)…

Table 3. Preliminary mean CI (Orgueil) weight normalized compositions of lithophiles, siderophiles, etc. in Novato…

Table 4. Abundances of major, minor, and trace elements in the Novato L6 chondrite.

Table 5a. Summary of oxygen isotope values for Novato.

Table 5b. Summary of chromium isotope values for Novato, compared with mean values from other meteorites.

Table 6a. Novato trajectory from all Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)…

Table 6b. Overview of Novato orbit determinations (Equinox J2000).

Table 7. Summary of the infrasound signal measurements…

Table 8a. Massic activities of cosmogenic radionuclides … measured by nondestructive gamma-ray spectroscopy.

Table 8b. Concentrations of U, Th, and K … measured by nondestructive gamma-ray spectroscopy.

Table 9a. Noble gas (He, Ne, Ar) analysis of two samples, 22.8 mg of N01-2b-7 and 47.8 mg of N01-2b-14.

Table 9b. Krypton abundances and isotope ratios (84Kr = 100) in Novato samples.

Table 9c. Xenon abundances and isotope ratios (132Xe = 100) in Novato samples.

Table 10. Thermoluminescence data for the light and dark lithologies of the Novato meteorite…

Table 11. Summary of 1H NMR section integrals for light and dark lithology methanolic extracts.

Table 12. Summary of the amino acid analysis from methanol spray sampling for light and dark lithologies of Novato N01-2a.

Table 13. Carbon and nitrogen stepped combustion data from Novato N01-1e.

Table 14a. Overview of other known L chondrite falls …

Table 14b. The calculated dynamical lifetime for meteoroids…

This may be the most thoroughly studied L6-chondrite fall.

In closing, I would like to invite anyone who has an interest, and is in the San Diego area, to this years installment of The Meteorite & Tektite Party which has had a long tradition here in Southern California. It will be held on September 14th. It was a lot of fun last year (where the main entertainment became an impromptu show & tell of meteorites), and I’m looking forward to seeing everyones latest acquistions this year.

This small fete will, again, be held at the same venue as last year, as well as, where my 65th Birthday Party was held two years ago, and is where I got the idea to resurrect the old Annual Tektite Party (hosted by Paul Harris and Jim Tobin) that I used to attend 10 years ago in Torrance, California.

This year the “Meteorite & Tektite Party”, again, is an open event to anyone that will be “in the San Diego area” or is willing to travel down the Interstates to San Marcos, California. The credit for actually organizing and running this event goes to my better-half, Monika Waiblinger. She suggested that we have another Party on her Facebook Group called the “California Meteorite Club“. We have confirmation from people who live in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles that they will be attending the Party this year.

Moni will be setting up tables for meteorite displays, since it seemed that everyone brought a meteorite with them last year. There’s a rumor that there will be a birthday cake this year for Boumdeid (2011). There will be some discussion about having a “slab exchange” (trade specimens), or a “silent auction”, or even giving talks and presentations at next years Meteorite Party.

Hope that you get this invitation in time and can make it. See you there.

REFERENCES:

— Meteoritics & Planetary Science | Volume 49, Issue 8, pages 1388–1425, August 2014 – “Fall, recovery, and characterization of the Novato L6 chondrite breccia” – Meteoritics & Planetary Science 1–38 (2014) doi: 10.1111/maps.12323

— NASA Press Release – Ames Research Lab: “NASA, Partners Reveal California Meteorite’s Rough and Tumble Journey” – Published online 15 August 2014

— NATURE | RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS in Astronomy: “Collision history written in rock ” Nature 512, 350 (28 August 2014) doi:10.1038/512350c Published online 27 August 2014 For a “copy” of the published paper | click on REPRINT on the “Nature – International Weekly Journal of Science” website.

Search the Meteoritical Bulletin Database for California meteorite fall with “name” : Novato

“Bob’s Findings” — An Article In Meteorite-Times Magazine by Robert Verish (November 1, 2012) – “The Recovery of the “Novato” Meteorite that Fell on 2012 October 18, 02:44 UT (Oct. 17, 19:44 PDT)” – A compilation of field reports – images – news items regarding this California meteorite fall.

My previous articles can be found *HERE* For more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser

Meteorite Times Magazine Selma H4 John Kashuba

The Selma meteorite was found near that Alabama city in 1906. At 310 pounds it was then the largest meteorite found in the United States. It was purchased by the American Museum of Natural History (New York). The thin section pictured here was deaccessioned by Arizona State University in early 2014 and is now in a private collection in France.

There is little doubt that these two barred olivine chondrule segments are related. Their apparent size difference is due to “vertical� displacement after breaking. One scenario, for example, is that the plane of the thin section passes through the widest part of the right hand segment. The left hand segment had moved a little lower (or higher!) and thereby presented a smaller part of that segment through which the section was cut.

A large porphyritic olivine chondrule with internal olivine displaying well defined natural crystal faces, that is, the crystals are euhedral.

Relict grains with their characteristic dusty appearance.

A barred olivine chondrule with several sets of bars, each of which is in crytallographic continuity with part of the chondrule rim.

A cluster of barred olivine chondrules apparently joined at a common point and possibly containing internal crystallographic twins.

A small complex compound chondrule.

Norm’s Tektite Teasers: A Splashform Muong-Nong Tektite??? !

By Norm Lehrman (www.tektitesource.com)

A couple of years ago, we picked out this unusual specimen while sorting through bulk Chinese tektites at the big Tucson show. It was only recently that I realized just how unusual it really is. A conspicuously layered tektite with unambiguous splash-form flight modifications??? This is an oxymoron. Most descriptions of Muong Nong-type tektites will mention their blocky character and complete lack of flight-related morphology.

In fact, it requires a feat of mental gymnastics to explain how such a specimen could fit into prevailing theories of the origin of Muong Nong layered tektites. I have always been attracted to the proposition that layered tektites are the product of "dunes" of condensate droplets or shards that settled and welded something like a welded ash flow tuff. But that doesn't explain specimens hundreds of miles from apparent ground zero. However they were propelled, it seems it happened after they were virtually always sufficiently solidified to resist plastic modifications in flight. Would this require a twostage origin? An initial impact that formed the siliceous condensate droplets and their accumulations, followed by a second impact to eject these?

While generally held to be impact-proximal, the distribution of Australasian Muong Nongs is too great to deny flight. Some certainly flew hundreds of miles, but geometries like that shown here are characteristically lacking. Muong Nongs typically show lower temperatures of formation than common splashform tektites, and often include relict mineral grains and vesicular textures (which I take to be terrestrial dust incorporated into the condensate droplet dunes).

And now, if this specimen is truly a Muong Nong, we have an accumulation of layered material that remained sufficiently plastic at the time of the secondary ejection to accept flight-related modifications.

In this are the seeds of two interesting thoughts: first, that there were at least two impactors in the Australasian event, and second, their relative timing involved just enough time for most of the Muong Nong material to have assumed a largely brittle state. This new exception puts the “just” in “just enough time”, as in at least this instance, a bit of the material remained significantly plastic.

I realize that this may be wringing a lot of conjecture from very limited evidence, but it remains the only scenario that accommodates what (I think) I know about Muong Nongs. I would be delighted to hear any other ideas that may occur to you.

A fundamental question underpinning this house of cards is quite obvious: Is this for sure a Muong Nong tektite?

To address this question, the specimen was submitted to Dr. Michael Zolensky at the NASA JSC ARES (Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science) directorate. Fine-scale compositional heterogeneity was measured utilizing their state-of-the-art electron probe micro-analyzer. Very significant variations in major-element chemistry were revealed in adjacent layers, which is the expected outcome for a Muong Nong , as opposed to viscous flow-banding and differential etching by soil acids which is sometimes seen in splashforms.

Unfortunately, at this point we reach a critical limitation of present research: while it is commonly reported that splashform tektites show a characteristically high level of internal chemical homogeneity and Muong Nongs, in contrast, of highly compositionally heterogeneous layering, there are actually insufficient published data at the level of detail of Dr. Zolensky’s work for conclusive comparisons.

Except for the splashform external morphology, this specimen looks like a Muong Nong to the naked eye, in optical thin-section, and chemically under the microprobe. If it is, it is utterly unique, the first of its kind ever described, and it may have important clues about the Australasian impact.

A brief description of this specimen and Zolensky’s findings has been accepted for a poster session at the upcoming 77th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting (2014) in Casablanca, Morocco. An abstract (#5342) can be located at the MAPS website. The 44 gram specimen remains in the author’s private collection.

Meteorite Times Magazine Dr. Arthur Ehlmann Anne Black

Personally, I have known Dr. Ehlmann a long time. How long exactly? Since I received a question through EBay… It must have been early in 2001. I had posted a small fragment of NWA 753 Rumurutite and this person was asking if I had a much larger piece available,—perfect spelling, perfect grammar and punctuation, unusual on EBay, the name at the bottom of the post: Dr. A. Ehlmann. I was stunned! The Curator of the Monnig Collection was actually surfing EBay. Oh yes! I did have a much larger piece of NWA 753, but I did run my answer through spellcheck twice before sending it.

Please allow me to introduce Dr. Ehlmann to those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting him. He is a very kind and very tall gentleman, and everybody’s favorite expert in meteorites. Born in Saint Charles, Missouri in 1928, he still calls himself a Missourian after all these years. His original field of expertise was clay mineralogy and he even worked for Shell Co. for a couple years before discovering his real calling: teaching. He joined Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Texas in 1958. That was the beginning of a very busy career, including traveling:

(Newspaper clipping dated August 27, 1968, courtesy of Dr. Arthur Busbey, TCU) And taking the students on field trips, even if that meant extra work for the professor:

(Undated picture, courtesy of Dr. Arthur Busbey, TCU) But Art always dominated the situation:

(Undated picture, courtesy of Dr. Arthur Busbey, TCU)

(Undated picture, Courtesy of Dr. Arthur Busbey, TCU) Something his students knew quite well:

(Undated picture, courtesy of Dr. Arthur Busbey, TCU) But then on a bright day in the early 1960s, as he was mowing his lawn, he was visited by a person who would change his life: Oscar Monnig. And together they would build the collection of meteorites that O. Monnig eventually donated to TCU. When Art retired from teaching in 1993, a new job was waiting for him: curating that collection. He did an exemplary job. The collection originally consisted of 392 different meteorites and a great many duplicates.

Art managed to parlay those duplicates into well over 1000 new ones, and the collection now includes some 1700 different meteorites. I still remember when Art told me that he would make me a great deal if I could help him sell several large masses of Travis, just so he could at last put his feet under his desk. Oscar Monnig had left funds to help manage the collection, but he did not want it to stay hidden in boxes. That was taken care of on February 1, 2003 when the Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Collection was opened to the public. And I had the pleasure of visiting it with Art a few months later.

(Photo by the author, 2003)

(Photo by the Author, 2003)

(Unknown photographer, Feb. 2010) As curator of a large collection Art often visited the yearly Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, where he was seen wheeling, dealing, selling duplicates and buying great new specimens.

In May 2008, Texas Christian University decided to recognize and celebrate Art’s long tenure, and long presence on campus. The whole thing was prepared behind his back and was a huge surprise to him. After a lavish dinner and several speeches, Art was officially crowned King Arthur, and his career was reviewed by his peers.

(Photo by the Author, May 2008) Early in 2012, Art and his wife Carol announced to me that they had finally decided to come to the yearly Meteorite Show and get-together in Ensisheim, France. I contacted some friends there, particularly Zelimir Gabelica, the inventor and organizer of this show, and gave them the good news. It was promptly decided that Art would be made a member of the “Confrerie Saint Georges des Guardiens de la Meteorite de Ensisheim�. And that too was a surprise to Art, since Carol and I somehow forgot to tell him. Come to think of it, he does not know about this article either. Good thing Art has a great sense of humor.

(Photo by Hanno Strufe, June 2012) And now that Art has decided to really retire, he will no longer ride his bicycle from his home to his office on campus as he had done for so long. But our loss will be others’ gain, because Art is not going to sit home watching TV, no, not Art! He is already tutoring kids in math and sciences, kids who did not have a very good start in life. And he is enjoying it!

Dr. Arthur Ehlmann and “his bride” Carol. Undated picture, courtesy of Dr. Arthur Busbey.

Meteorite Times Magazine Mendy Ouzillou Interview Paul Harris

This feature is devoted to one of the personalities within the meteorite community. This month we are delighted to share an interview we had with Mendy Ouzillou.

(MT) What or who got you interested in meteorites?

(MO) I will be forever grateful to the Meteorite Men for bringing me into this hobby turned obsession. I was channel surfing one day and stumbled onto a typical episode where Geoff and Steve were gallivanting around the globe having a blast hunting these elusive rocks from space. Needless to say, it only took one episode and I was hooked.

I always collected “things” as I was growing up including rocks, minerals, fossils, stamps, coins and comic books. As I got older and started my professional career, my tastes changed and I began collecting art and sculpture. Seeing Meteorite Men rekindled my love of collecting rocks but in a more sophisticated way that also drew on my love of art, science and history.

(MT) What was your first meteorite and when did you get it?

(MO) I bought two meteorites from Geoff Notkin and Aerolite Meteorites on Oct. 25, 2011 and both were Sikhote Alins. I have always been a collector that focused on quality rather than quantity and chose the two best pieces I could afford. One was an oriented shield with a complete rollover lip (http://bit.ly/1mYu4c8) and the other an individual with two holes that Geoff had dubbed “The Mask” (http://bit.ly/1zSlot3).

(MT) Do you still have it?

(MO) I still have both pieces and still enjoy them.

(MT) Do you have special areas of interest that you focus on in regards to meteorites (thin sections, photography, chemistry, age dating.. etc)?

(MO) As my collection grew, I tried taking pictures to post on Facebook and eBay, and was always dissatisfied with the results. Prior to last year, I knew next to nothing about photography much less about macro photography, so I decided to teach myself. I had many failed experiments, but eventually my results improved. However, it was not until I designed my own custom light box that I finally got the results I was really looking for. As a recovering perfectionist, I’ll probably never be “done” with optimizing, but I now feel that when someone sees pictures of my specimens, it is pretty close to what it will look like in their hands.

I love to learn about meteorites. I am an avid reader and continually try to increase my knowledge and understanding. One of the joys about collecting meteorites is learning about where they came from and how they were created. And, as a bonus, I finally get to make use of the AP Chemistry classes I took in high school. I also have a passion for helping and teaching others and do my best to help our small community grow in whatever ways I can.

I have been tempted by thin sections, but have resisted that siren song so far.

(MT) Does your Family share in your interest in meteorites?

(MO) My family shares my interest, just not my obsession. I have some of my big irons displayed on the coffee table in the living room and my wife, Crystal, has grown very fond of the 13kg Canyon Diablo we have. She has not named it yet, but it is clearly a part of the family. The CD has special meaning to her because even before I became involved with meteorites, she had visited the Barringer Meteor Crater and was awed by its size and stark beauty.

My son, Jacob, thinks meteorites are pretty cool, but prefers video games. I’m hoping to get him roped in eventually.

(MT) Do you have any special approaches to collecting? (Type collection, only stones, only irons, only by aesthetics, etc. or any and all that you like.)

(MO) Yes, I drive a cheap old car so I can buy the best specimens possible. All kidding aside (and not really kidding), I had to have a strategy to start my collection and decided I wanted to build a type collection. However, I kept being drawn to specimens that fell into four basic categories: 1) Sculptural irons

Agoudal (Individual Iron IIAB, 153g) 2) Specimens with unusual features (e.g. exceptionally large chondrules and weird inclusions)

Moorabie 35.19g 3) Rare specimens (e.g. low TKW of an unusual type)

Almahata Sitta 2.29g Bencubbinite 4) Historical falls especially with old specimen cards or unusual provenance.

As all collections mature they evolve and transform in different and unexpected directions. My collection has been no different and I’ve decided to simply enjoy the journey since choosing a destination implies an end to the road.

(MT) Do you mind saying how many locations your collection represents?

(MO) I do not collect locations, though certainly understand the allure. I tried for a very short amount of time to collect all the Texas meteorites, but one can only have so many olivine bronzites in their collection. My favorite location will always be Antactica and am happy to have nice specimens of Thiel Mountains and ALH 76001 that are part of my permanent collection ‌ unless I can find an even bigger and better pieces.

Thiel Mountains 23.3g, Pallasite, PMG (Antarctic) (MT) Is your collection displayed or kept in a dry box or both?

(MO) Different meteorites require different solutions. I would love to display all of them but that is neither practical nor wise in many cases due to their susceptibility to our unfriendly atmosphere. Many of my meteorites are stored in acrylic display boxes with desiccant inside in the same way as many European dealers.

Larger specimens are stored in baggies with desiccant, dry boxes with desiccant, membranes boxes inside baggies with desiccant, ‌ The common theme is, no surprise, desiccant. We spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on our specimens and ensuring their long-term stability is key to enjoying them.

(MT) In what ways do you use your computer for meteorites? (met-list, social media, meteorite research, shopping, etc) (MO) The computer is indispensable for me and use it for all the activities listed above. However, the one activity I never anticipated was how it would enable me to establish exceptional friendships and relationships with people all around the world – most of whom I have never met in person. Luckily, I do travel often as part of my professional career, and have made it my mission to meet in person as many of my virtual friends as possible.

(MT) Do you ever hunt for meteorites?

(MO) I do and I love doing so for what would appear to be contradictory reasons. I love the solitude and the camaraderie, as well as the long quiet moments occasionally interrupted by the thrill of the find. I think many meteorite enthusiasts are adventurers and explorers at heart and anytime we can get the chance to go on a hunt, we do so.

An important aspect of hunting meteorites is getting to appreciate how terribly hard they are to find. I hunted Holbrook, Sutter’s Mill, Novato, Franconia and various California dry lakes and the one thing they have in common is that there is never a guarantee of making a find. If you are out there to make money, and some are quite successful doing so, realize that it can easily be a money losing proposition. So, never be disappointed and enjoy the hunt for the sake of the hunt.

The results of an entire week of hunting different locations … 0.6g of SAW 005 iron and I was thrilled.

(MT) What is your favorite meteorite in your collection?

(MO) That question is like asking what my favorite food is. How do you choose among so many worthy candidates when it comes to meteorites? Well, like choosing my favorite food, it depends on my mood and circumstances.

Planetaries are great because I enjoy watching people’s reactions when I put a piece of the moon in one of their hands and a piece of Mars in the other.

I was fortunate to be able to buy a large percentage of Ron Hartman’s collection and he clearly had his favorites as well. I really wish I could have met him as our collecting styles were so similar and based on all I have heard, he was such a gentleman. So, one of my favorite meteorites is a slice of the Antarctic meteorite, Thiel Mountains, that he made part of his “Ron Hartman Collection” pieces. See the picture above.

In one of the first trades that I did, I was able to get a 500g+ slice of the Bondoc pyroxenite nodule from ASU. There is only one other slice in private hands and though Bondoc is plentiful, there is precious little of the pyroxenite nodule to go around. There is an interesting paper written about this nodule that can be found at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2010/pdf/1386.pdf. That interaction led to my being able to acquire the 2nd largest Bondoc iron nodule weighing in at 2.6kg. And before anyone says anything, this nodule has been stable since I acquired it.

Then again, how could I forget finding my 1.6g of Sutter’s Mill – that was an experience I will never forget and one that allowed me to meet so many of the people that have helped influence and shape my collection as well as become friends.

This list would not be complete if I did not mention one of the highlights of my very short collecting life and that is partnering with Adam Bates on the classification and sale of NWA 8276, one of only three 3.00 meteorites in the world.

(MT) What is your favorite overall if it is not the one above?

(MO) The next one I buy or find for my collection …

(MT) What makes these of special interest?

(MO) The thrill of the hunt whether on eBay, ferreting out an old collection or finding it in the field. As a collector, there are few things more gratifying than making that next acquisition especially if it was tough to get.

(MT) What meteorites are currently on your wish list?

(MO) Ibitira, Sera de Mage, Pasamonte, Puerto Lapice, a large uncleaned Sikhote Alin with great crust and Russian museum label, a really sculptural Gibeon, a large oriented NWA with deep fluting and a good crust, and any meteorite that allows me to make new friends and ponder my place in the universe.

(MT) What methods have been most successful in building your collection? (Buying at shows, from dealers by mail, auctions on the web, trading… etc) (MO) As you may have guessed from my earlier responses, I put a great deal of importance on building relationships. Even in this day of computers, cell phones and Facebook – nothing beats a personal relationship based on mutual trust and respect. I strive towards clear and transparent communications, and set clear expectations. Then I keep my word. In my 25 years in high tech and the last 15 in semiconductor marketing, those guiding principles have always served me well and expect them to do so as well in our community.

(MT) Which Shows do you attend?

(MO) I have attended the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show the last two years and really enjoyed it. I will try to get to the Denver show this year and am really hoping to go to Ensisheim in 2015.

(MT) Do you also collect related materials like impact glasses, breccias, melts, tektites, shocked fossils, native iron rocks etc?

(MO) I did not plan to, but when I was in Tuscon earlier this year (Feb. 2014), I purchased a perfect 4.55g Ivory Coast tektite from Alain Carion. When I hear the word “rare”, I can’t help but become interested and decided that was a worthy specimen to start my tektite collection.

I then followed up that purchase by adding 2 beautiful and fully flanged Australites to my collection – again quality over quantity.

Flanged Australite Button – 4.2g Found in Pine Dam, Australia in early 1970s (pictures taken using my custom made light box).

So, it looks like the tektite siren successfully lured me into that abyss – but I went willingly. I also now collect impact glasses like Darwin glass and when interesting specimens come up, I’ll even collect breccias. I am waiting to add a really large and finely featured shatter cone.

(MT) Do you prepare any of your own specimens? (cut, polish, etch, etc.)

(MO) I do prepare my own specimens with a focus for now on etching of irons. No surprise to anyone that even with the best curation and preservation techniques some irons will rust (short of storing them in a big bin of ATF fluid). So when I started noticing some rust on specimens and bought specimens that needed to be re-etched, I decided to embark on that journey. I mean, how hard could it be? Well it is hard – very hard because the real art comes in not just the etching itself but making sure that the etch will remain bright and rust-free for a long time.

One of the clear artists in this area is Mirko Graul. His work is amazing and he has clearly perfected his techniques over many years. He keeps his trade-secrets very secret and rightfully so. After doing my own experimentation, and comparing etching results among many other dealers and preparers, I realized there is a big range in quality. So, if I was going to set a goal, that goal would be to become “almost” as good as Mirko – and other European masters.

Through intensive research, experimentation and some private advice from some of my friends, I am making good progress and have achieved some beautiful results – but I still have a long way to go!

Later this year, I hope to start slicing my own meteorites and that will open up a whole new world of challenges.

(MT) Have you had to take any special measures to protect them from the environment?

(MO) Protection and proper curation of meteorites are crucial to maintaining a collection. Unfortunately, I think some new collectors are not aware of these requirements and are rightfully disappointed when their specimens deteriorate. Different measures are required depending on the climate in your area, but I treat all my meteorites as if they were going to spend the rest of their existence in Houston, TX for example. As described earlier, I try to reduce exposure to the outside world as much as possible and use desiccant liberally.

(MT) How have meteorites enriched my life?

(MO) There are people in our community that have taken the time and effort to mentor me. They have helped me understand meteorites and the business of meteorites. They have opened doors for me that would never have been available to me like a private tour of the Mona Kea observatory and seeing the non-public meteorite collection at the British Museum. I am very happy to say that through meteorites I have made connections that allowed us to become friends and even best of friends – even though some I have never met personally but hope to do soon.

(MT) Do you have any final thoughts?

(MO) As my interest in meteorites has grown, so has my desire to become more involved. As such, when Tomasz Jakubowski approached me to become a native English reviewer for the open access journal “Meteorites”, I jumped at the opportunity and actively participated in the latest issue to be found on the website http://meteorites.pwr.wroc.pl/).

I also spend a great deal of time administrating two Facebook pages including “Meteorites” (www.facebook.com/groups/spacerocks/) and “Is It a Meteorite?” (www.facebook.com/groups/isitameteorite/). The Meteorites page recently exceeded 2,000 members and each member is personally reviewed by either me or by the other admin, Ben de la Vega. Both of these pages strive to educate potential new collectors and engage their imagination. I encourage readers to “friend” me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkyFallMeteorites.MendyOuzillou As I mentioned before, I personally want to expand the number of collectors in our community and provide a trusted online resource for people at all levels of education and interest. I am presently in the process of developing my new website, www.skyfallmeteorites.com, which serve as both a commercial and educational portal. For now, other specimens I have can be found at www.meteoritesusa.com. You can also see my offerings on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/skyfallmeteorites/m.html? where I have listed some really spectacular specimens.

My next goal is to become an IMCA board member. I am working on my platform and preparing for the election. I see so much opportunity for the IMCA to spread the excitement we all share in meteorites, and I want to contribute towards that goal.

I’ll sign off with the little sign that my son Jacob made for me:

Meteorite Times Magazine Meteorite of the Month: Choteau Pallasite Paul Harris

Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hosts The Meteorite Picture of the Day.

Copyright Jim Strope.

86 gram full slice. 93 x 81 x 2.9 mm. Pallasite, ungrouped TKW 8.47 kg. Fall not observed.

Contributed by Jim Strope, IMCA 9001 Submit Pictures to Meteorite Pictures of the 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