Hi
Sterling and List,
>
Originally posted last June (2001), the statistics of transfer of
impact ejecta from
> planet to planet suggested that there should be
1 or 2 Mercurian meteorites that
> have been collected but not (then) identified.
The ratio of Martian to Mercurian
> meteorites should be about 15:1. Since basalt
requires a differentiated world,
> Vesta is about as small as a basalt producer is
likely to be, so the candidates
> for the origin of these rocks have to be
bigger.
Coincidentally enough, I was talking to Alan Rubin just
yesterday about what
a Mercurian (Hermian?) meteorite would
look like. Among other things, he
said
it would be low in metal and volatiles, highly shocked, and high in
solar
gases. (On the latter point, I thought,
"Great! I'll just look for rocks
high in solar gasses!
;-)"
Cheers,
Rob
