In a message dated 5/9/2011 4:24:28 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Hi List,
Has anyone ever put together a hardness list for meteorites in relation to the Mohs scale? I know that irons, stony-irons, friable types (some achondrites, LL's) will vary greatly in hardness. But what I am curious about is stony type meteorites, specifically the chondrite family. For example, let's take the "typical" H5 chondrite - one of the most common of all meteorite types. Where does the H5 fall on the Mohs hardness scale? Up until the time I started cutting and polishing meteorites, I assumed that an L5 would be "softer" than an H5. But, I have run across some L-chondrites that are very very hard and require the same amount of sanding/polishing work as some H-chondrites. I am assuming this is because of the individual mineral compositions of the meteorites in questions, and not so much the petrologic type. So am I right to assume that stony meteorite hardness is not dictated solely by iron content? Best regards, Mike Gilmer -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone News Feed - http://www.galactic-stone.com/rss/126516 Twitter - http://twitter.com/galacticstone EOM - http://www.encyclopedia-of-meteorites.com/collection.aspx?id=1564 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list_ (http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list) Hi Mike, Yes I believe your right to assume that iron content of a chondrite does not dictate it's hardness. An iron meteorite has a hardness of 4-5 which is what you would get if the test point of the chondrite was on a iron flake. It could be higher if the test point was in the matrix and that would depend on the composition of the matrix. Feldspar which has been found in meteorites has a hardness of 6 and diamond is a 10. Jim Konwerski ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
