Dr Grossman,
Thanks, this is exactly what I have been saying. If you are going to give it
a different name, then you must be able to use the term main mass with the
pairing. I personally don't like the pairings being named (take for example
NWA 801. I go to Morocco often, and I go right to the strewnfield outside
Zagora every time I go. I immediately get besieged by children and people
who all recognize me and run up selling me whatever piece of this CR2
meteorite they have found over the previous few months in my absence. I sell
them all as NWA 801, since it is the same meteorite, I do not submit them
all for naming, I would have over 500 new CR2 meteorites if I did).
When I get a meteorite, like NWA 2046 Martian for example, it gets cut up
and the largest piece is the main mass, some lucky owner has the bragging
rights to claim that they own the largest remaining piece. No pairings have
ver been found of it, so no issue there.
Mike Farmer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Grossman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 5:38 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Term Main Mass
I basically endorse the below statement by John. As for how the NomCom
uses the term "main mass," it is applied to the entity being described in
the writeup. These writeups in the Bulletin are very specific about what
material is to get each name. "Main mass" refers back to that. If somebody
wanted to put a statement in the Bulletin like "NWA 7554 is the main mass
of the NWA 6788 pairing group," I would also find that to be an appropriate
usage, and could vote to accept it for the Bulletin.
I do differ with John on one minor point: we don't use the term only for
the largest piece in a group of meteorites assigned to a particular
number. We would also use it to describe the remaining largest mass of a
single stone that has been cut or broken up for distribution.
I also must take umbrage at the statement made in Doug's post referring to
the "not especially peer reviewed appendix of MAPS." All articles in the
supplement issue get full peer review. Only the MetSoc abstracts do not.
The MetBull is highly peer-reviewed. The Editor and Assoc. Editors
produce writeups, and a committee of 13 scientists review each one. Many
writeups also go out for review by scientists outside the NomCom. I
realize that this is not a traditional peer review conducted by a
independent editor, but it is a very, very high degree of peer scrutiny.
jeff
At 12:46 AM 1/20/2006, Arizona Skies Meteorites wrote:
As most of us are aware, NWA numbered meteorites are
not in any way analogous to meteorites coming out of a
well characterized strewn field-that's precisely why
they are given NWA numbers. Those that understand the
NWA numbering system also understand that the main
mass of one NWA numbered group may or may not be the
'biggest piece' of the presumed "fall". In fact, the
use of the term 'main mass' in respect to NWA
meteorites has nothing to do with the 'fall' per se,
but rather is the term used to refer to the largest
piece in a group of meteorites assigned a particular
NWA number. Even the "pairing" of meteorites does not,
and can not guarantee that they are part of the same
fall. This is especially true in the case of northwest
Africa where meteorites are collected over a vast area
with little or no record of their coordinates. Since
it will never be known whether "paired" NWAs are
actually part of the same fall or not, it seems that
the term main mass is appropriate unless one can
unambiguously state with complete certainty that two
NWA numbers are from the same fall. This can not be
done without a precise record of coordinates. In our
opinion this discussion over the use of "main mass" is
just a matter semantics, and has nothing to do with
science what-so-ever. That said we can probably bring
this thread to an end.
Cheers
-John
Dr. Jeffrey N. Grossman phone: (703) 648-6184
US Geological Survey fax: (703) 648-6383
954 National Center
Reston, VA 20192, USA
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