Reading the love-in that's passing for the meteorite list these days has made
me ebb and flow emotional, so I'll add my two hearts (are better than
one-YES) to the moment.
I enjoyed several stellar meteoritical moments during the last hours worth
sharing with young and old, "Big" and "Small" and even "Family Size"
collectors alike.
Arriving simultaneously in the mail box this PM was a package of bartered
meteorites and the August issue of M ("!" - R.I.P., we're all calmer now).
I had traded off a big rare PAL his way (we all need a pal).
I had received a fabulous selection my way.
Advertisement - Special thanks to Steve "The International Brokerage Dealer
in Arkansas" Arnold for making it all possible. (Thanks for the tortilla
chips in the packing, to).
Scope time (courtesy Russia and MBlood).
And when we look into the two glass tubes what do we see boys and girls?
- HaH 193 Winonaite. Boring to the naked (sorry ladies, not as good looking
as Rob "That Rascal" Wesel) eye, but extremely interesting at higher
magnification. If you look 'em up, winonaites are classified as "Stone" mets.
But in Norton's new encyclopedia, he discusses them in the 9th Chapter "Irons
and Stony-Irons". Why such "burn 'em at the stake", oil-and-vinegar heresy?
"Winonaites (bet you can't type that 3 times fast-KK) are thought to be
samples of a parent body that only partially differentiated. It is likely
that both the IAB Irons and the winonaites came from the same parent body.
Their textures and compositions suggest that they are a mix of chondrite and
metal breccia."
So what do I see? No chondrules but definitive heavy metal breccia.
H-m-m-m-m. Mine must be from a "different, not differentiated parent
body".......the Brittany Spears of meteorites........way different body.
- NWA 595 Brachinite - Another yawn to look at with the naked (is that a
whale shark in my pants?) eye, but fab-a-licious at 40X's. Again, from my
esteemed colleague Richard, "Their mineralogy is quite simple, almost
entirely olivine. Brachina's 4.5 billion years compared to Chassigny's
relative youth (1.3 billion yrs.) argues against any relationship......Minor
phases of troilite and chromite make up the opaque phases."
I can see why this was confused with Chassigny at first. Loaded with olivine
crystals. But I also argue against the doomed "Winter-Spring" relationship.
(Of course, they're good while they last). Minor chromite? To the naked eye
(oh, never mind "Double Agent 002" Bob V.) there's black everywhere in 595. I
need to get a ts of this one. Gotta be eye candy.
Then we went totally polarized, man. Like wow. A Millivanilli ts (thin
section for all you new guys, Millibillillie if you're keepin' score). Cool
colors. Absolute Eucrite. "A chaotic arrangement of plagioclase crystals set
in a matrix of coarse clinopyroxene." A little beer. A little chaos. Yeh.
Sounds like a Uruguayan bank holiday.
But always save the best for last. Chances are you'll live that long.
What's on the cover of "M"? this time - Steinbach. What's in my mailbox? A
slice of Steinbach weighing 18.3 grams (Metric system Rules!) from
(Advertisement) Steve "The Big International Meteorite Broker". From Arkansas.
I gotta check my horoscope today. What are the odds?
Steinbach - found laying on the ground at a place with a
"name-with-hyphens", Germany in 1724. (OK. The name is
Karl------Marx-------Stadt, motto -"for all your communist needs").
Just kidding. Just a joke. It's late. I should be calculating my next
quarterly taxes. If it makes you feel better, go ahead and joke about my
town. Fart Myers. "Where's the Fart?"
Ha, ha, ha.
We have a lotta farts. Mostly old ones.
OK, moving on.
Steinbach. One of my all-time favorites. "Large masses were said to have
fallen at Whitsuntide, 1164."
Luckily, they all missed hitting any dogs, or "hunds" as they say locally.
Had they "hounded the hunds" we'd still be discussing "weinerschnitzel left
like asses in a moment".
I meant "ashes".
Steinbach, truly a treasure. An anomalous treasure. Under any magnification,
it shows more than its technical "IVA Iron w/silicate inclusions". Try
peridot blobs on the surface. Peridot blobs under the sea. Totally anomalous,
baby. Muy magnification.
Steinbach in my mailbox. Steinbach on "M" (but just a photo on the cover, no
story? what's THAT about?)
Quick note - Greg Shanos, esteemed friend and respected author of "Sweet and
Sour Meteorites" in this issue of "M". Love that recipe! But sprinkle a dash
of "Five Spice Powder" next time on the "pulpo de portales" and you'll add
that Wow factor.
But seriously, what's the buzz on the new nakhlite? I tremble in anticipation.
Anyway, we have been recently joined by many new members and they're bringing
the fresh lifeblood of enthusiasm to the list. Let me join in welcoming them.
And speaking of displaying patience and devotion, I think it's been great
that Walter "Tree" Branch and Bernd "Never Met Jane" Pauley are keepin' up
with their generous sharing of specimens, research and positive-itis. We are
truly blessed.
It's great that Ron "The B Stands For" Baalke continues to keep us informed
through thick and thin about waz happenin' with NASA. And places much farther
away. Like Mars. Thanks, Ron.
Now, all you "newbies". Before you begin getting a little too comfortable
around here, go buy or borrow (i.e.library) "Rocks from Space" by O.Richard
Norton (BTW - nobody calls him "O") and read it cover-to-cover.
Feed your mind and your wallet will follow.
Kevin Kichinka
President - Meteorite Collector's Anonymous
Fort Myers, Florida
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