woohoo.... Why does that road into the mountains remind me of Groom Lake? Rosie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matson, Robert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 6:54 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Lucerne Dry Lake mystery item revealed
> Hi All, > > Back about two weeks ago I posed a question to the list asking how > many of you had paid a visit to Lucerne Dry Lake in southern California > prior to April 2002. A number of you replied privately, some who had > been there, some not. There were a number of guesses as to the mystery > item that I found there, but none close. And of those that had been, > none were aware of anything that they had left behind. > > Since it appears that the individual who lost this item may not be > a member of Meteorite-Central, the time has come to spill the beans: > I found, of all things, a meteorite! Of course, meteorites are exactly > what I was searching for, so that shouldn't come as a surprise. But > this was a TRANSPORTED meteorite, more specifically a partslice. > > Now I can understand someone taking a meteorite along with them while > hunting to use as a search image, but a small cut slice??? At the > time I found it, I didn't even consider the possibility. I thought > perhaps some kind of odd mechanical weathering had sanded a meteorite > down to a sliver. (Given the alternative explanation that someone > had dropped a partslice on the lakebed, and that I had somehow > managed to find it seemed to be the more absurd possibility.) > > Given that no saw marks could be seen, I had to treat it as a > find. It received a field ID and a sample was broken off (not cut!) > for UCLA to analyze. Mind you -- we looked at this meteorite under > a microscope and aside from the obvious resemblance to a (weathered) > slice of meteorite, could find no evidence of it having been cut. > > Fast-forward several months to the opening night welcome reception > for the Meteoritical Society meeting at UCLA. I brought a number > of meteorite finds along with me to show to colleagues, among them > this oddity from Lucerne. The sun was setting, but in the fading > light Bob Verish and Nick Gessler got to take a look at this find > under a 12x loupe that I had brought along. Lo and behold, with > the grazing light, there was just enough surface contrast that Bob > was able to detect the faint remnants of saw marks on the > less-weathered side. I looked, and sure enough they were there: > completely invisible except when viewed at grazing incidence. > I had myself a transport -- and probably an unintentional one at > that! > > If any of you are curious to see the in situ find photos, I've > posted them at: > > http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_a.jpg > http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_b.jpg > http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_c.jpg > http://members.cox.net/mojave_meteorites/lvtran_d.jpg > > The first image shows the slice before it was touched, the > second after it was flipped over. The third is a close-up, > and the fourth shows the general area on the playa where > it was found. Obviously it would be nice to come full-circle > on this story and learn the identity of the one who lost this > slice, when they lost it, and most importantly which meteorite > it came from! It would make a humorous story for Meteorite > Magazine... > > Best, > Rob > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
