And, of course, if the name is mis-spelled originally, the mis-spelling
persists as the official name: Forrest 001, Dyarrl Island (which should be
Dyaul or Djaul), etc.
Alan Rubin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Grossman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 3:25 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Names and synonyms (was ...Mali or Argelia...)
Here is what I can tell everybody about official names and synonyms.
Every meteorite is given one, and only one, official name. This is the
name that must be used in publications. There are no rules for how the
name is chosen, only guidelines. Mainly the guidelines call for naming
the meteorite after a nearby geographic feature that can be found on maps.
If there are competing candidates for the name, weight may be given to
many factors in choosing which to bestow, including existing usage among
scientists and collectors, finder's privileges, distribution of specimens,
and a little politics now and then.
There are no rules at all concerning synonyms, although nowadays these are
often vetted by the NomCom too. In general, these are any other names by
which specimens of a meteorite may have been known throughout history.
Synonyms are NOT official names. Sometimes you see "officially
recognized" synonyms, meaning the NomCom has published it, but it's still
not an official name. The NomCom usually tries to recognize synonyms when
they have appeared in scientific publications, press reports, well-known
catalogs, or when the meteorite is widely sold or traded under another
name.
One grayish area in all of this is "named masses," like the Ahnighito,
Agpalilik, Woman, Dog, and other masses of Cape York. Some of these names
are so engrained that even scientists who have long studied them don't
realize they aren't the official names, like Filomena. But these are also
unofficial names: the official name for Filomena is North Chile.
Nevertheless, the NomCom encourages the preservation of names of such
masses on specimen labels and in catalogs, as they convey potentially
important information about the provenance of a particular subsample. A
good way of doing it would be to say "North Chile (Filomena mass)".
Conversely, there is little value in preserving archaic names that do not
carry specimen information, e.g., you would never refer to a Kirin mass of
Jilin.
jeff
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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