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July 2013 Issue
Transcript of Meteorite Times Magazine
Meteorite Times MagazineContentsby Editor
Featured Monthly Articles
Accretion Desk by Martin HorejsiJim’s Fragments by Jim TobinMeteorite Market Trends by Michael BloodBob’s Findings by Robert VerishIMCA Insights by The IMCA TeamMicro Visions by John KashubaNorm’s Tektite Teasers by Norm LehrmanMeteorite Calendar by Anne BlackMeteorite of the Month by EditorTektite of the Month by Editor
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Meteorite Times Magazine69354 is the Zip Code for Mars[land]by Martin Horejsi
In 1933, a 2.25kg meteorite was discovered in the community of Marsland,Nebraska. While not technically Mars, Marsland is, you have to admit, a pretty coolname for a meteorite even if only an H5.
The Marsland chondrite is from the red state of Nebraska. This image shows the polishedface of my slice highlighting the delicate metal flake, trio of iron nodules, and occasionalchondrule.
Marsland was not named after the wonderful Red Planet, but instead for ThomasMarsland, the general freight manager for the railroad at the time of Marsland’sfounding on August 28, 1889.
Marsland shares not only my birth state, but also my current time zone. Located inthe far northwest corner of Nebraska, it makes the cut into Mountain Standard Timethat stretches all the way to eastern Oregon while any meteorite witnessed to fallslightly east of Marsland will be recorded in Central Standard Time.
The unpolished face of Marsland also contains a specimen number from the Jim Schwadecollection, as well as a pair of inked letters that appear to be [gr.] meaning gram and in thenotation that H. H. Nininger often used to denote the weights of slices.
From a collecting standpoint, Marsland is a find with a reasonably low TKW andequally low distribution. As an H5 ordinary chondrite Marsland holds the secondmost common classification after the L6 chondrites. While very few non-falls findfriendship in my collection, Marsland is one of the exceptions due exclusively to itsname.
The “crust” on Marsland is little more then a textured skin that has oxidized over the decadesas it sat alone and unappreciated in a Nebraska field.
Nebraska meteorites are far from rare, and 1933 was a popular year for witnessed
falls and finds alike so there is no magic in that number. The classification, and thesize of the single recovered stone are unexciting, and while a reasonably freshinterior, the exterior confesses a terrestrial history extending long before Nebraskawas officially recognized as a state.
A more accurate feature of Marsland that tells the story of a long terrestrial life is the degreeto which the earth as invaded the space of the stone. A thin but clearly present weatheringrind extends several millimeters from the crust towards the stone’s heart.
My rectangular slice of Marsland has one edge of crust and two nice faces. Thepolished of the two faces show a rich black matrix sprinkled plenty of fine-grainedmetal flake, troilite, and the occasional chondrule.
The unpolished face bares the notation of once being in the James SchwadeMeteorite Collection, and upon whose card identifies the source previous to Jim asDavid New, a mainstay in meteorite dealership during the 80s and 90s.
I considered David New a friend because like many who practiced the art of meteoritecollecting in the 1990s, David was an mentor, teacher, and dealer of fine specimens.
Although my collecting deliberately targets historic witnessed falls, Marsland is awelcome exception to my rule. I am happy to add any planetary-named meteorite tomy collection regardless of the size of the audience in attendance during its earthlybirth.
Until next time….
Meteorite Times MagazineMeteorites at Lick Observatoryby James Tobin
My wife and I took a road trip recently up to Santa Cruz to see our daughter andgranddaughter. We called her and said we were about twenty minutes from thehotel and she could head that way to meet us. She was picking us up as soon aswe could check in and taking us to Lick Observatory over on the other side of SanJose. It was about an hour and a half drive to the observatory which is on top ofMount Hamilton. The observatory is actually pretty far from the city and I wouldguess it is still a reasonably dark site. But, no one is really allowed to be there atnight. There is still some active observing going on, though the facility is clearly indecline from what we could see and were told.
It was about 1 pm when we arrived and it was just a few minutes wait until the nexttour began. There were just a handful of people there for the talk inside the dome ofthe 36 inch refractor. I remember reading as a kid about the telescope. There werealways these wonderful photographs with a credit given to Lick Observatory. Here Iwas standing under the great tube of the historic scope.
Our guide who was also the cashier in the gift store gave a nice talk about thescope and the history of the mountain. She asked a question of the group. Howdoes the astronomer look into the eyepiece of the scope as the height changes fromposition to position? None of us knew the answer and she told us that the floor risesand lowers under the control of the astronomer. He has command of the turning ofthe dome and the floor while he stands or sits in a chair observing. One of thepeople asked if we could see the floor go up and she said she does it sometimesand that today could be one of those times. It was pretty cool to see the wholewooden floor of the observatory rise in front of us as we stood out on the edge nearthe wall. Once the floor was up we got a view into the basement where the grave ofJames Lick was placed. He never saw the telescope finished but that was not asimportant to him it seems as the actual creating of the observatory itself.
We headed down the main hallway to the display rooms and the gift store. I left thefamily and went to the room with all the historical displays; while they went forsouvenirs. And what do you think I found immediately upon enter the little museumroom? You got it, meteorites.
This is a beautiful piece of Cumberland Falls
A very nice large Plainview stone.
There were only a few but they were actually really cool. The piece of CumberlandFalls was I think the largest piece I have ever seen. It looked to be 60-70 gramsmaybe a little less. But, since you usually see just crumbs for sale or smallfragments this was exciting. There was a very sweet Plainview which was probablyaround 800-1000 grams and completely fusion crusted. Several Canyon Diabloswere in the display case. Not surprising to see them since the heyday of theobservatory was during the big debate and recognition time of Meteor Crater.Canyon Diablos were going everywhere around the world at a crazy rate. Two of theCanyon Diablos were typical sharp edged torn metal pieces. However, the largestmeteorite on display was a Canyon diablo which was covered with holes. It wasquite unusual. It looked to be over a hundred pounds.
This cut and etched Canyon Diablo is showing a little corrosion but this author thinks ithas been sitting in this display case for around 80 years. They receive maybe a once ayear feather dusting probably at most so stable meteorites can do well with littleattention.
Two very typical Canyon Diablos are seen here.
This Canyon Diablo is full of holes and is quite unusual.
There was a nice stone with a label that said it was one of about fifty stones found in1897 and 1898 in Ness County, Kansas. There are three Ness meteorites listed inthe Catalogue of Meteorites. But this has to be one of those recovered from the findin 1894 which is an L6 with a total known weight of 82kgs. The date on the labelexcludes the H4 found in 1938 and the weight excludes the last Ness which has norecovery date but is only a single stone of 0.399 kg and did not come to light until1999.
There was one other large slice of meteorite with no specific information and thoughI tried hard to get a picture of its surface the lighting made it impossible to shootthrough the glare of the glass case. All the meteorites had been presented to theLick Observatory by a W. H. Crocker. I cannot be sure from just the name but I thinkit likely that the W. H. Crocker shown on the old yellowed ID cards of the meteorites
it likely that the W. H. Crocker shown on the old yellowed ID cards of the meteoritesis the Crocker of banking fame. He was also a regent of the University of Californiathe body responsible for Lick Observatory. He was a major financier of thereconstruction of San Francisco after the quake and fire. Both he and his wife werepatrons of the arts and creators of museums. I am strongly led to believe this is thecorrect man who donated the meteorites but I wish I had thought to ask up at theobservatory.
After finishing at the main building with lots of pictures taken and souvenirs in handwe headed across the property to the few parking spots near the 120 inch reflector.For a time this was the second largest scope in the world. It is interesting that theglass for the 120 inch mirror was a test casting done by Corning Glass inpreparation for casting the 200 inch blank of the Palomar telescope. The 36 inchrefractor and 120 inch reflector are the only two domes open to the public.
We could see that the property is not being maintained very well. It is a shame thatbecause the science has passed this historic location by and is being done onlarger state of the art new telescopes that there should be no funding spent onupkeep to the buildings at Lick. We heard from some of the personnel that whenthey retire their residences are no longer available for someone new. They will fromthen on be forever vacant. Some of the buildings many of which are cute woodenstructures with great style are badly suffering from age and exposure. I am wellaware of the money problems that schools of higher education suffer with inCalifornia. But, Lick is a famous site and deserves better than to simple dissolve todust from neglect.
It is a great place to see but be prepared for a long winding drive up a narrow road ifyou ascend the mountain from the San Jose side. The road is the original road thatwas used to bring up the materials for the buildings and scopes a hundred yearsago. I have been up a lot of old roads to observatories and this is among the longerof the roads. But, the history is worth it. There are public observing times during theyear and special programs with music held up at the observatory. We were told thelarge reflector is available for online use by schools with a staff member is availableto work the instrument.
Meteorite-Times MagazineMeteorite Market Trendsby Michael Blood
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Meteorite Times MagazinePart 2 of Primm Meteoritesby Robert Verish
The effort to reconstruct fragmented meteorites continues
This is an exceptionally well-made resin-cast fabricated by Paul Gessler from meteoritefragments that he found and reconstructed into the original mass, minus one (still)missing piece.
Part 1 of this story was my last article (May 2013) and was titled: Primm and theother Roach Dry Lake Meteorites. The Primm meteorite was found in Clark Countyin southern Nevada. It was found on 1997 December 23rd. Paul Gessler’s father,Nicholas Gessler, discovered the first Primm Meteorite. Nick and his family went onto find 104 more meteorite fragments with a total mass of 3.383 kg. Many of thesefragments could be fit together to form larger masses, essentially “reconstructing”the original stone.
The above Primm Meteorite cast was made by Paul Gessler (Nick Gessler’s son).He did this as a follow-up to his request on the Meteorite-List for “help” in completinga puzzle Primm meteorite that he had reconstructed from found fragments. For thereader’s convenience, I’ve transcribed Paul’s post below:
Subject: [meteorite-list] PRIMM – DRY LAKE HELP
From: Paul Gessler Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:57:08 -0700
To all You hunters who have searched Primm / Roach Dry lake:
Please help me to rebuild one of my favourite meteorite finds. This 242 g individual was found back in 1997 and was reconstructed from 3 pieces and glued back together. It is still missing a small 8 gram wedge shaped piece that hopefully can be reunited with the main mass??? Just want all of you who have hunted Roach D.L. to take a look at this video and see if just maybe you have the piece I am looking for. It would be Incredible to
see if just maybe you have the piece I am looking for. It would be Incredible to COMPLETE this meteorite's saga. If found, I would be happy to substitute for a larger Primm piece from our collection...and some detailed info on a Nevada strewn field that has yielded some really Amazing finds. Let me know. thanks.
Would also be interested in the locations and mass of additional finds regardless of matching my piece so that I can get an idea of what we missed. I want this attempt at unification to get out to everyone so please forward the video to anyone you know who has searched this location or is even slightly interested.
This just might work? I hope.Paul Gessler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW54tdOXWiE
Another image of the Primm cast made by Paul Gessler. Excellentworkmanship! Thanks for the cast, Paul!.
REFERENCES:
The Wikipedia: entry for Primm
- contains links about the Primm Valley (State Line) area in southern Nevada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primm,_Nevada
http://www.meteorite-times.com/bobs-findings/primm-and-the-other-roach-dry-lake-meteorites-another-effort-to-reconstruct-fragmented-meteorites/
The Primm (H5) Meteorite:
104 meteorite fragments weighing a total of 3.383 kg were recovered by NicholasGessler after an extensive search of Roach Dry Lake …http://gessler.bol.ucla.edu/Primm.htm
PRIMM meteorite Roach Dry Lake:
Published on Apr 19, 2013 – Paul Gessler’s video of his Primm (H5)meteoritefragments which he reconstucted into a whole stone weighing a total of 283g –MINUS an ~8 gram piece which he is requesting help in getting it found/located. …http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW54tdOXWiE
Roach Dry Lake Nevada [Primm] Meteorite Find :
Published on Apr 20, 2013 – “Found this 6.3 gram meteorite piece while huntingRoach Dry Lake Bed, near Primm, NV. on 4-13-13.” – “Dolan” Dave’s videoresponse to Paul Gessler’s video of his Primm (H5) meteorite, which Paulreconstructed into a whole stone weighing a total of 242g from fragments that Paulfound 15 years ago at Roach Dry Lake. …http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8JoD0YAC_8
My other articles can be found *HERE*
For for more information, please contact me by email:
Bolide*Chaser
Meteorite Times MagazineDaG 978 C3-ungby John Kashuba
Dar al Gani 978 resembles CR chondrites in that it has relatively large chondruleswhich contain blebs of metal. Certain elemental abundances resemble those ofCM–CO chondrites and others are similar to the CV–CM–CO range. O-isotope dataare similar to CO and CV chondrites. DaG 978 is a type-3 ungrouped carbonaceouschondrite.
Large, irregular chondrule. Metal appears black in this and the next photo. DaG 978 C3-ung. Thin section in incident light.
DaG 978 C3-ung. Thin section in cross-polarized light.
DaG 978 C3-ung. Thin section in cross-polarized light.
This is the same field as the previous picture. The largest chondrule is 1.7 mm in diameter. Ithas flecks of metal in one of its outer layers and blebs of metal in its interior. DaG 978 C3-ung. Thin section in incident light.
DaG 978 C3-ung. Thin section in cross-polarized light.
This is the same field as the previous picture. These two photos depict a large, somewhatirregular chondrule with multiple layers. Some layers are mainly metal. The metal hasstained nearby silicates. DaG 978 C3-ung. Thin section in incident light.
In the hand a slice of DaG 978 is distinctive. The fine gray matrix is friable and tends toslough off during slicing leaving the large metal-rich chondrules standing proud of the matrix.
DaG 1040 looks the same as DaG 978. The Meteoritical Bulletin database gives the findlocation of the 15 pieces of DaG 1040 about 900 feet from that of the single piece of DaG978. DaG 1040 is classified as CV3. This slice is 55 mm wide.
Meteorite Times MagazineA Wabar Dumbell!by Norm Lehrman
“—below me, as I stood on that hill-top transfixed, lay the twin craters, whoseblack walls stood up gauntly above the encroaching sand like the battlementsand bastions of some great castle. These craters were respectively about 100and 50 yards in diameter, sunken in the middle but half choked with sand,while inside and outside their walls lay what I took to be lava in great circleswhere it seemed to have flowed out from the fiery furnace.” (H. St John Philby,January 1933. “Rub’ al Khali: An Account of Exploration in the Great Desert of Arabiaunder the auspices and patronage of His Majesty ‘Abdul ‘Aziz ibn Sa’ud, King of theHejaz and Nejd and its Dependencies”. The Geographical Journal 81 (1), p. 13.)
St. John Philby ventured deep into the hostile Empty Quarter of what is now SaudiArabia in 1932, in search of the legendary city of “Ubar”. Ubar was essentially theIslamic equivalent of Biblical Sodom & Gomorrah, a city destroyed by fire fromheaven for its sins. Circular courtyards with vitrified walls were reportedly strewnwith the incinerated pearls of the harem. Irregular masses of iron were all that wasleft of the former inhabitant’s implements.
Philby initially thought he was looking at volcanic features, but it was laterunderstood to be a cluster of meteorite impact craters. A massive iron meteoritetotaling some 3500 tonnes fragmented and slammed into the desert sands formingglass- walled craters and a large field of glassy impactites and meteorite fragments.As the desert winds shifted the sands, positive relief circular “walls” emerged andflat floors of sand formed the courtyards.
The largest of the fused iron “implements” was recovered in 1966. The 2.2 tonne“Camel’s Hump” meteorite now sits at the entry to the National Museum of SaudiArabia in Riyadh. Only a small number of expeditions have ever reached the remotecrater site, and recent reports are that the shifting sands have now covered nearlyall of the impact features.
Impactite collectors have alwayscoveted the tiny black glass beads known as “pearls of the harem” or more simply,“wabar pearls”, in no small measure for the general romance of the story. But thismonth’s featured stone is a major rarity in an already elite population: a well-formedlittle dumbbell! It is 39.8 mm in length (~1.6 inches) and weighs 0.7 gms. It resides—proudly— in the author’s private collection. This may well be one of a kind.
Meteorite Times MagazineMeteorite Calendar – July 2013by Anne Black
Please click on the meteorite calendar to view a larger image.
Meteorite Times MagazineBassikounou H5 Meteoriteby Editor
Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hostsThe Meteorite Picture of the Day.
Contributed by Jeff Kuyken, Bassikounou – H5 124 grams.
Submit Pictures to Meteorite Pictures of the Day
catchafallingstar.com Nakhla Dog Meteorites
Michael Blood Meteorites The Meteorite Exchange
Impactika Rocks From Heaven
Aerolite Meteorites Big Kahuna Meteorites
Sikhote-Alin Meteorites Michael Farmer
Meteorite Times MagazineMeteorite-Times Sponsorsby Editor
Please support Meteorite-Times by visiting our sponsors websites. Clickthe bottom of the banners to open their website in a new tab / window.
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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 © 2010 James Tobin
