To amplify on Carl's response...
For the past 15 years, any meteorite from this region (except falls)
would get an NWA number unless there was compelling documentation of the
coordinates of the find. This might include a photo of the meteorite in
situ with an active GPS. But this was rarely presented to NomCom and so
it rarely happened.
Now, like in other places around the world, NomCom will not question the
coordinates of finds from Morocco and nearby countries (unless something
is obviously wrong). The meteorites will simply be named. And like in
other desert regions, this generally will mean DCA names. There are no
longer special rules for northwestern Africa.
We will have to see what happens. The reason the NWA rule was put in
place 15 years ago was that it wasn't possible to assess the find
stories of all the meteorites coming out of the marketplaces in
Morocco. The rule changes take us back to that situation again, but now
the nomcom will not even try to evaluate locations. The difference now
is that, with DCAs in place, there will not be hundreds of names to
adjudicate.
As for the question about "firm, reliable coordinates," that will be
for the reader to decide about any given meteorite.
The other thing that changed in the guidelines were special rules for
assigning provisional names to NWA meteorites. With nothing special
anymore about NWAs, that went away (i.e., section 7.6 was revised).
The "new" NWA meteorite (N>10000) is no different than any other
generically named meteorite. "Northwest Africa" now means, literally,
that the meteorite is most likely to come from the northwest quadrant of
the continent, and not that it was most likely found in Morocco and
adjacent parts of surrounding countries. If nomcom is totally unsure of
where a meteorite may come from, the name will be Nova xxx.
Jeff
On 2/14/2015 3:08 PM, Carl Agee via Meteorite-list wrote:
Hi Mike,
In a nutshell, the new rules allow geographic names for any Moroccan
meteorite with find coordinates. To simplify the naming in desert
areas, part of Morocco will have DCA grids. Under the new rules, any
meteorite without coordinates, originating in Morocco or surroundings
(meaning in practical terms purchased in Morocco) will be given a NWA
name. The new style NWAs will start with NWA 10001 to set them apart
from the old style NWA rules. There will be no retroactive names
assigned in this new scheme. Nothing will change in the naming of
falls, which will always have unique geographic names.
Hope this clarifies.
Carl
*************************************
Carl B. Agee
Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
MSC03 2050
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
Tel: (505) 750-7172
Fax: (505) 277-3577
Email: [email protected]
http://meteorite.unm.edu/people/carl_agee/
On Sat, Feb 14, 2015 at 12:04 PM, Galactic Stone & Ironworks
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Carl and List,
Thank you for this update on the change. However, what exactly does
this mean in practice?
For example, would a find with coordinates like Mreira now be
classified as a NWA 10xxx ?
Or will finds with firm reliable coordinates still be considered for a
place name and not a NWA 10xxx?
On this page, I can see the crossed out portion about NWAs that was
abolished. But what else has changed in regards to policy about
classifying NWA material? - http://meteoriticalsociety.org/?page_id=59
Best regards,
MikeG
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On 2/13/15, Carl Agee via Meteorite-list
<[email protected]> wrote:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/MetBullNews.php?id=3
*************************************
Carl B. Agee
Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
MSC03 2050
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
Tel: (505) 750-7172
Fax: (505) 277-3577
Email: [email protected]
http://meteorite.unm.edu/people/carl_agee/
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