Dear Ken, List;
Inquiring minds want to know, did my call of So. Utah/Henry Mountains
stand the location test with the neighborhood wood expert? I would
brim with happiness to learn that one.
Woodly,
Dave F.
Norm Lehrman wrote:
Ken,
Congrats to you for pursuing this to a conclusion.
They aren't always this receptive to dissenting
opinions. Once in a while, it works, and helps to
restore a bit of our confidence.
Thanks,
Norm
http://TektiteSource.com
--- ken newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Norm and others,
I asked Mr. Rant to examine the specimen for growth
rings. He replied:
"Due to the interest by others and the quandary it
presents (experts are
puzzled!) I have removed the item from eBay until a
qualified expert
evaluates the stone.
"It never occurred to me that a local petrified wood
expert lives four
houses down from me. I called him up and asked if
he would give me his
professional opinion to a problem stone in my
possession. I just
returned from a visit with him.
"He not only instantly recognized this specimen as
petrified wood but
was able to give a close approximation of the type
of hardwood it was.
He believes my specimen is from American Chestnut or
Giant Chinkapin.
He described the cell structures as the reasons why
he believes that is
what it is.
"I asked him if there was any doubt whatsoever in
his opinion, even one
or two percent doubt. Zero doubt--it is petrified
wood with 100 percent
certainty! The only doubt is the type of tree;
could certainly be wrong
in that area of his opinion.
"So, you were persistent and hung in there. Thank
you so much for
helping me with this auction. I will relay similar
information to those
others who were also puzzled. I was totally fooled
on this one, which
will make me more aware next time.
"I will stick to selling what I am more comfortable
with from now
on--you know, stuff with a label on it. :-) Best
regards, Kenneth Rank"
Norm, Thanks for solving this and restoring the
credibility of geologist
worldwide (or until the next non-List geologist
deems an obvious 'wrong'
to be a genuine meteorite :>)
Best,
ken
Norm Lehrman wrote:
Ken and list,
This image:
http://i7.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/94/59/e4ce_3.JPG
looks highly silicous, which could explain the lack
of
streak. Am I imagining it, or can you detect some
concentric banding, convex towards the upper left
(opposite the saw marks)? If that's real, this may
well be petrified wood! Surely the seller would've
recognized that---
Norm
http://tektitesource.com
--- ken newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Norm and others,
Thanks for your reply.
The photos do not show up well in the little ebay
viewer so here are
three urls.
http://i7.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/94/59/e4ce_3.JPG
http://i2.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/94/59/e233_3.JPG
http://i1.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/94/6b/a18e_3.JPG
I asked about a streak test, Mr. Rank replied:
"No, I did not do a streak test, but I did one
just
now per your request.
The finding is negative for any color
whatsoever--no
blacks, rust,
hematitic, ochre, or yellows present. Thank you
for
the interest."
Very curious reply (in my opinion) when looking at
the red interior of
the photos.
Best,
Ken
Norm Lehrman wrote:
Ken and all,
How embarassing for geologists everywhere and
another
general downer for serious meteorite people.
This
stuff is frustrating and sad. I hate seeing
people
ripped off.
My bristles go up everytime someone says: "I know
it's
real 'cause I had a geologist look at it---"
As a career practicing geologist with over
10-years
college-level teaching on the side, I can assure
you
that most geology curricula do not include ANY
significant training or information regarding
meteorites, much less, their identification.
It is true that we geologists see a lot of earth
rocks
and are in a generally advantageous position to
recognize something out of the ordinary when we
see
it, but I have described to this list before that
in
well-intentioned nievete, I used to pass around
some
fine SLAG pieces as examples of meteorites.
Everyone, please be advised that, in general,
professional geologists and geological
academicians
know less about meteorites than list members!
Anyone
reading this has been exposed to more meteorite
information on this list than any geologist gets
in
multi-degree training unless they are involved in
a
course of study specifically involving
meteorites!
Cheers,
Norm
(http://tektitesource.com)
--- ken newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi,
Check out this professional geologist's
'Ureilite
meteorite with diamonds.'
=== message truncated ===
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