Pete: Given that you are looking into a small vug or cavity in the inclusion, my best guess is you're looking at a thin, iridescent coating on the face of a tiny euhedral troilite crystal. Such purple/blue iridescence is relatively common in terrestrial pyrites/marcasites and other sulfide minerals.
Mark > > > Hello, all, > > I've mentioned before that my interest in meteorites is new, and have just > started collecting. > > I've enjoyed buying quantities of (very affordable) Unclassified NWA's from > some fellow list members, then cutting, polishing, and spending hours > looking at them through my recently acquired stereoscope microscope. A whole > new appreciation for chondrules when they're in 3-D! > > Getting to the point; one stone I recently cut, and polished down to a 400 > grit wet sand cloth, then examined through the microscope, revealed that one > metallic area (troilite?) has a cavity, and in the cavity is a very vibrant > purple to navy blue substance. > > http://pskills.onfinite.com/album/185698/628054/ > > http://pskills.onfinite.com/album/185698/628055/ > > The only information I've turned up on the internet thus far indicates that > sodium chloride in meteorites is purple and blue, but it's been found just > in the matrix. > > Is it more likely that this substance is some type of oxide that formed in a > manner similar to a geode? > I can't imagine salt forming or surviving inside a metallic area like this. > > I have some more close-up pics in hi-res , if required. > > > Cheers, > Pete > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- CoreComm Webmail. http://home.core.com ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
