More Chondrite, Less Fat

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Meteorite-Times Magazine
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Featured Monthly Articles
Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi
Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin
Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood
Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish
IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team
Micro Visions by John Kashuba
Galactic Lore by Mike Gilmer
Meteorite Calendar by Anne Black
Meteorite of the Month by Michael Johnson
Tektite of the Month by Editor
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Witnessed Fall: Borkut, Ukraine
by Martin Horejsi
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An October 1852 Witnessed Fall: Borkut, Ukraine
The Borkut Meateorite:
More Chondrite, Less Fat
Early comparisons of t he Borkut met eorit e t o ot hers of t he t ime led
some scient ist s t o conclude t hat Borkut had a higher chondrit e t o
mat rix rat io.
T his uncut f ace of Borkut shows t he chondrule-rich landscape, yet not
unlike a conglomerat e sediment ary rock f ound here on eart h. How
about t hat big pebble!
According t o t he f ew report s of t he f all of t he Borkut met eorit e, at around 3:00 in t he af t ernoon, a
single st one f ell f rom t he sky burying it self about t wo f eet int o t he ground and described as still
warm when recovered.
It weighed a t ot al of 12 Vienna pounds, wit h t he largest of t he broken pieces t oping t he scales of
t he day at seven Vienna pounds and 6 1/4 lot hs. T he Cat alogue of Met eorit es list s t he T KW of
Borkut as 7kg or 15 pounds 6.4 ounces f or us Americans.
T he blade of a saw t urns spheres int o circles.
Spend some t ime st aring at t his cut f ace. T he longer you look, t he
more chondrules and f eat ures you will see. Not ice t he arc of broken
whit e chondrule in t he lower lef t .
Or t he large radial olivine-colored chondrule in t he lower right .
Or t he whit e silicat e armor surrounding t he inclusion in t he upper right .
T he Cat alogue of Met eorit es (2000) list s Borkut as an single 7kg st one L5 chondrit e t hat f ell on
Oct ober 13, 1852. T he place of f all is Zakarpat ska Province, Ukraine. However t he 1923 edit ion of
t he Cat alogue by George Prior list s t he locat ion of t he Borkut f all as Marmoros, Rut henia,
Czechoslovakia.
And if t hat discrepancy is not enough, t here was a brief not e in Met eorit ics & Planet ary Science
(Vol. 36, No. 9, Supplement , 2001) t hat list s Borkut as f rom Hungary cit ing t he 1985 Cat alogue of
Met eorit es as t he ref erence.
Landing on a world t hat was enlight ened about met eorit es barely half a cent ury earlier, Borkut was
an import ant sample f or it s day. Early st udies of Borkut by Tschermak and ot hers not ed t he
richness of t he chondrules secured in a somewhat limit ed mat rix.
For me, it is pieces such as t his Borkut t hat show a t he complexit y of chondrule/mat rix int eract ion
f urt hering t he conf usion about t he init ial f ormat ion of t he visible geology of t he early solar syst em.
T he microphot ographs above and below were t aken by Gust av
Tschermak von Seysenegg and published in 1885 in work t it led Die
mikroskopische Beschaf f enheit der Meteoriten, lat er republished
in English in a t ome t it led T he Microscopic Properties of
Meteorites, Vol. 4, No. 6 (Smit hsonian Cont ribut ions t o Ast rophysics,
Washingt on, D.C., 1964).
Tschermak’s words, t ranslat ed by Translat ion by J.A. Wood and E.M.
Wood are as f ollows:
Part of a porphyrit ic chondrule in t he chondrit e Borkut ; olivine cryst als
in a brown glass mat rix. Much of t his glass is enclosed by t he olivine
cryst als. T he upper cryst al seems t o have been sect ioned parallel t o
{100} so t hat t he sharp edge (021) Ð (0?21) is present ed.
T he large glass inclusion in it s cent er seems t o f ill a negat ive cryst al.
Ot her glass inclusions are also visible and, alt hough incomplet e,
suggest a lamellar st ruct ure. Below is a larger cryst al, bounded by
dist inct cryst al f aces.
It is penet rat ed by several parallel t abular glass inclusions, which give
it a chambered charact er. To t he lef t is an olivine cryst al wit h very f ew
inclusions.
A double chondrule in t he chondrit e Borkut . T he smaller part is a
monosomat ic compart ment ed olivine chondrule wit h a pale
t ransparent shell; t ranslucent mat erial f ills t he space bet ween olivine
plat es.
T he large chondrule, which part ly encloses t he small one, is of t he
same charact er; bot h go t o ext inct ion simult aneously. Borkut is f ragile
and t ends t o disint egrat e during sect ioning, so t hat t he double
chondrule is part ially separat ed f rom it s original mat rix.
(Again, t ranslat ion by J.A. Wood and E.M. Wood)
Wit h t he Tom Phillips f aux ant ique scale cube f or comparison, it is
easy t o see t he large size of t hat odd rock f ragment just t o t he right
of t he broken f ace which is just t o t he right of t he cube.
T he plet hora of chondrules has led one observer t o compare t he
spheres t o grapes. Alt hough Borkut did not f all in a vineyard like ot her
met eorit es, I cannot get t hat simile out of my mind when I look at t he
grapes, err, I mean chondrules in Borkut .
Is t his what crust looks like on Borkut ? It ’s hard t o t ell because t he
surf ace of Borkut is unlike most ot her met eorit es.
Normally t he mat rix holding t he chondrules makes a nice melt ed
surf ace wit h chondrules bubbling up t hrough t he velvet y sheen.
However Borkut , being most ly chondrules, react ed t o t he
at mosphere’s at t ack dif f erent ly. At least t hat is my scenario when
assuming t hat t he ext erior of Borkut pict ured above represent s a
sample of f usion crust .
About six years ago, t he wonderf ul sample of Brokut made it s way
f rom t he Jim Schwade collect ion int o mine.
About 11 years bef ore t hat , t he specimen moved f rom t he J.
Schmut zler collect ion int o Jim’s.
Oddly, t he collect ion hist ory of my Borkut piece is good knowledge t o have as a collect or of
hist oric st ones. What ’s odd you might ask? Simply t he f act t hat of Borkut ’s 158 years on t his
planet t hus f ar, I can only account f or about 10% of it s t ime on eart h. So Borkut , where have you
been hiding?
Unt il next t ime….
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Vacation 2010
by Jim Tobin
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On Vacation
Soon we’ll be of f on vacat ion. We t hought hard about where t o go and what we want ed t o do t his
year. And t he end of all t hat t hought was summed up in t he word “veg” we are just going t o go out
and sit all day if we want and do not hing. Wit h all t he changing rules about where you can hunt and
where you will get in t rouble if you t ry t o hunt , we decided t o just plop ourselves down in a spot
t hat would be ok f or met eorit e hunt ing if we want ed t o do some and would be good f or ast ronomy
during t he night s.
So we will be sit t ing at Franconia. We have hunt ed here bef ore wit h limit ed success. We have
f ound bot h t he irons and t he st ones and had a lot of f un but it can be f rust rat ing now af t er all t he
hunt ing t hat has gone on here. We know t hey are st ill out t here but it is a big area.
We have set up t elescopes at Franconia bef ore and it is dark enough t o see a large number of
object s. T he Moon is not going t o be in a very f avorable st at e f or deep sky work t his week but
since lunar phot ography is what I want t o do t he f irst couple evenings should be great . T he planet
Jupit er will also be bright and high so we can wat ch t he moons cross and do some f ine work
observing t he planet .
T he new season of Met eorit e Men will be st art ing t his November and I am really looking f orward t o
t hat . I am excit ed f or Geof f and St eve t his is a wonderf ul t ime f or t hem. I am sure t hat years f rom
now t hese will be some of t he most t reasured memories relat ed t o met eorit es t hat t hey will have.
Personally, I am looking f orward t o seeing where t hey go on t his season.
Af t er a lot of procrast inat ion I am get t ing my garage cleaned up. I have my work t ables set up and
my wif e can get back t o doing her st ain glass work and I can sneak in and do mine t oo. I have my
lapidary equipment on anot her long t able. Spread out now it is nice t o have room t o work and t o
keep everyt hing t oget her. I was handicapped by having piles of mat erial here and t here all
disorganized. It is great t o have a lit t le cont rol of t he invent ory.
As you can see we have got t he new look f or t he magazine complet ed. Paul is t he wizard t here. I
check t hings out as a t est er and help wit h t he color scheme decisions and layout but t he coding is
all his. He always does a great job of get t ing t hings working really well.
T he new f ormat also let s us make t he ent ire hist ory of issues searchable and once all t he back
issues are ref ormat t ed it will be t he resource t hat we had originally envisioned. But , t he capacit y
just was not around t o make it happen t ill recent ly. Searching t hrough t he back issues has
admit t edly always been a pain, but soon it will be a delight we hope.
I’ve had a new lapt op f or a f ew mont hs and never really given it a good workout . I t hink t hat will
change t his week. I loaded some ast ronomy sof t ware ont o it and I expect t o do some image
processing while we are relaxing during t he days. We will not be doing any deep sky phot ography
t his t rip but I am sure I will st ill t ake a lot of pict ures. We will have a great vacat ion summary t o t ill
next mont h so st ay t uned. Hopef ully we will have f ound a f ew met eorit es and had a great
advent ure again.
Meteorite Market Trends
by Michael Blood
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This Month’s
Meteorite Market Trends
by Michael Blood
IMCA Insights – October 2010
by IMCA TEAM
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IMCA Insight s – Oct ober 2010
Visit at t he UoA Elect ron Microprobe Laborat ory
by Anne Black
Quite a while ago Dolores Hill (Senior Research Specialist, Lunar and Planetary Sciences, University of
Arizona, Tucson, Arizona) asked me if she could borrow some thin-sections of Almahata Sitta from me
for a very important occasion. Of course, she could! In fact I had asked my favorite thin-section
maker to double-polish but leave some thin-sections uncovered so they could be used for research.
And I had just received the first batch.
Then about a month ago, Dolores finally told me what that big occasion was: the University had finally
received their brand new, cutting-edge, Electron Microprobe. It had taken a long time, but it was
there, and had been installed and tested by a couple of French technicians (incidentally, I learned that
the best Electron Microprobes are made in France). The Lunar and Planetary Lab wanted to celebrate
the event, and have an official inauguration and ribbon-cutting ceremony; and I was invited. And my
thin-sections would be used for the "First Beam" because of Almahata Sitta's connection with Tucson.
The big day was Friday September 24. When I arrived, the Lab was already crowded, I met there Dr.
Michael J. Drake, Director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Dr. Kenneth Domanik, Manager of the
Electron Microprobe Laboratory, Dr. Dante Lauretta, Dolores Hill, and of course Rik Hill, Richard Kowalski
(who discovered Almahata Sitta when it was still a meteor, and known as 2008 TC3), and many
others. The huge machine was ready and decorated with a large red bow; the big cylinder in the
middle is the electron gun, the smaller tubes coming out at angles are the individual spectrometers,
and the bow actually covers the airlock where the sample is inserted.
Dr . Do manik and Dr . Dr ake p r o mp t ly c ut t he r ib b o n and
Dr . Do manik s et t led d o wn t o s ho w us what it c o uld d o
Pho t o c o ur t es y o f Full Mo o n Pho t o g r ap hy
Lef t t o r ig ht : Dr . Do manik, Mar ia Haas , Dr . Dr ake,
Dr . Dant e Laur et t a, Anne Blac k
In case you don't know how a microprobe works, I will quote from the information kindly provided by
Dolores Hill: "In an electron microprobe, a solid sample (on a thin-section) is bombarded with a
focused beam of high energy electrons. This produces a variety of different types of interactions
between the beam of electrons and the atoms in the sample. The result is a chemical analysis of the
selected spots on the sample". For a more technical and complete explanation, please go to the
following PDF files, kindly provided by Dolores Hill:
FirstElectronBeam.pdf
HowDoesItWork.pdf
QuantitativeAnalysis.pdf
QualitativeAnalysis.pdf
Pho t o b y Anne Blac k
From a lay-person's point of view, there are 4 screens beside the microprobe proper, the user types in
the various commands on a keyboard, and navigates around the thin-section with a joy-stick and a
few knobs on another board. And Dr. Domanik took us on a tour of a thin-section of EL6 Almahata
Sitta. First we saw a relict chondrule, black and white, and polarized.
EL6 Almahat a Sit t a Cho nd r ule in b lac k and whit e
Pho t o b y Dr . Do manik
Then on to a tiny sliver of the crust. Dr. Domanik asked for the composition of a tiny light grey dot,
and the machine promptly responded on another screen with the whole composition broken down in
colorful peaks and valleys. What was it? Olivine. Then to two other intriguing stick-like, very dark
masses, again the response came up quickly: Graphite.
For a more detailed, and more scientific, explanation, provided by Dolores Hill, go to:
AlmahataSittaEL6.pdf
Then we went on to a thin-section of one of the ureilite lithology of Almahata Sitta, and Dr. Domanik
demonstrated another function of the microprobe, X-ray mapping. He asked for the distribution of
several chemical elements, and the machine promptly responded with colorful maps, each one
showing the location of one of the elements being searched. Again more detailed and scientific
information is available here: AlmahataSittaURE.pdf
He then repeated the search on a thin-section of the Los Angeles meteorite. Not only do the "maps",
pictured below show the presence or absence of the element being searched, but variations in the
color also indicate how prevalent that mineral is, a little to a lot. A very precise and thorough analysis,
however that does take longer for the machine to produce, and this was an example Dr. Domanik had
prepared. More detailed information here: LosAngeles.pdf
A t hin s ec t io n o f t he Lo s Ang eles s her g o t t it e und er t he mic r o p r o b e
The Open House and Inauguration was officially from 4 to 7 pm but we were all listening and watching
until way past 7; in fact few of us even took the time to nibble on the finger-food kindly provided by
the University. Sorry Dolores, but some of us, and mostly me don't get very often the occasion to look
at an electron microprobe close-up and personal.
If you want to know more about the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona,
please look at: AboutTheLab.pdf
As for me, I am delighted I came. Thank you very much to the whole Laboratory team for the kind
invitation.
Lef t t o r ig ht : Dr . Dr ake, Ric har d Ko wals ki, Alex Gib b s ,
Rik Hill, Do lo r es Hill, Anne Blac k, Amy Phillip s
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Bill Cassidy and the Campo del Cielo Strewn Field (1960′s)
by Robert Verish
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Bill Cassidy shares some of his pictures f rom the Campo del Cielo strewn f ield taken in the
1960′s.
FROM LEFT T O RIGHT: Ted Bunch -- Ramon (?) -- Luisa Villar -- Dan Milt on -- Bill
Cassidy -- Truman Kohman
During a t rip t o Pit t sburgh, Pennsylvania last week, I st opped-in at Universit y of Pit t t o pay a visit
t o Prof essor Emerit us Bill Cassidy. It was a t reat t o t alk t o him about his work in t he early days
wit h t he Japanese in Ant arct ica. But it was an added t reat when Bill st art ed t o discuss his even
earlier work in t he Sout hern Hemisphere – his collaborat ion wit h t he Argent ine researchers at t he
Campo del Cielo st rewn f ield in t he 1960s. T he result s of all of t his f ield work are well-published.
I’ve list ed t hem below at t he end of t his art icle under “Academic Ref erences”. You can f ind t hese
on-line and published in t he “Supplement ” issue (Vol. 45, 2010 July) of t he Met eorit ical Societ y
journal, Met eorit ics & Planet ary Sciences (M&PS).
Here are some images of pict ures t aken “f rom t he f ield” which Bill Cassidy shared wit h me:
Argent inian f ield workers dragging up a large Campo del Cielo iron met eorit e f rom a
t rench in "Crat er No. 6"
A unique view of an iron met eorit e being ext ract ed f rom a t rench
which has exposed a penet rat ion f unnel.
A crane pulls up a monst er Campo del Cielo iron met eorit e f rom
"Crat er No. 13"
T his was supposed t o be a "posed pict ure" of t he recovered
met eorit e wit h t he mayor of t he local village in t he Campo del Cielo
st rewn f ield, but several f amilies wit h t heir children arrived at t he same
t ime.
Bill Cassidy on t he lef t and t he aut hor on t he right .
Myself looking at t he Bill Cassidy Campo iron met eorit e in
a wooden crat e.
A closer look at t he iron met eorit e t hat Bill Cassidy and
t eam recovered at t he Campo del Cielo crat er f ield
I wish I could have spent more t ime t alking wit h Bill Cassidy, but I had pressing f amily mat t ers t o
at t end, and Bill had t o ret urn t o his current project , which is no surprise t hat t he t opic is “impact st ressed” iron met eorit es f rom t he crat ers in t he Campo del Cielo st rewn f ield in Argent ina.
Ref erences:
• Link t o t he websit e wit h an abst ract f or t he ref erenced journal: Met eorit es and Crat ers of Campo
del Cielo, Argent ina
Met eorit es and Crat ers of Campo del Cielo, Argent ina (pp. 1055-1064)
William A. Cassidy, Luisa M. Villar, T heodore E. Bunch, Truman P. Kohman, Daniel J. Milt on
St able URL: ht t p://www.jst or.org/st able/1716081
• Link t o a websit e wit h a reprint of Buchwald’s HIST ORY AND SCIENCE OF T HE CAMPO DEL
CIELO MET EORIT E
T he websit e “quot es” f rom:
T he Handbook of Iron Met eorit es
T heir Hist ory, Dist ribut ion, Composit ion and St ruct ure
Volume 2
by Vagn F. Buchwald
Depart ment of Met allury, Technical Universit y, Lyngby, Denmark
Published f or t he Cent er f or Met eorit e St udies, Arizona St at e Universit y
By t he Universit y of Calif ornia Press
Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
Academic Ref erences:
1. Bunch, T. E., Cassidy, W. A., Impact -induced def ormat ion in Campo del Cielo
met eorit e. French, B.M. and Short , N.M., eds., Shock Met amorphism of Nat ural
Mat erials, Mono Book Corp., Balt imore, MD, pp. 601-612. 1968.
2. Cassidy W.A., Renard, M. L., Discovering research value in t he Campo del Cielo,
Argent ina, met eorit e crat ers. Met eorit ics & Planet ary Science, v. 31, pp. 433-448.
1996.
3. Cassidy, W. A., Wright , S. P., Small impact crat ers in Argent ine loess: A st ep-up f rom
modeling experiment s, Impact Crat ering Workshop, pp. 8004. 2003.
4. Cassidy, W. A., Field invest igat ions at Campo Del Cielo, Argent ina. Unpublished
Research Proposal, Universit y of Pit t sburgh, 31 p. 1973.
5. Cassidy, W. A., A small met eorit e crat er: St ruct ural det ails. Journal of Geophysical
Research, v. 76, pp. 3896-3912. 1971.
6. Cassidy, W. A., Met eorit e impact crat ers at Campo del Cielo, Argent ina. French, B.M.
and Short , N.M., eds., Shock Met amorphism of Nat ural Mat erials, Mono Book Corp.,
Balt imore, MD, pp. 117-128. 1968.
7. Cassidy, W. A., Villar, L.M., Bunch, T.E., Kohman, T.P. and Milt on,D.J., Met eorit es and
crat ers of Campo del Cielo, Argent ina. Science, v. 149, pp. 1055-1064. 1965.
8. Traub, S. G., Cassidy, W. A., Alt erat ion of Campo Del Cielo soil by met eorit e impact :
Implicat ions f or t he surf ace of Mars (abst ract ). Lunar and Planat ary Science XX, pp.
1128-1129. 1989.
My previous art icles can be f ound *HERE*
For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser
NWA 5742 Howardite
by John Kashuba
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It ’s wort h a f ew minut es t o peruse a howardit e just f or t he t ext ures – viewing it in hand or wit h a
loupe or ‘scope like we do here. Howardit es are t he compact ed soil of t he ast eroid Vest a. T hey
are a mixt ure of f ragment ed rock t hat has been excavat ed – f rom bot h shallow and deep – mixed
and lit hif ied by impact s. Breccias. Some are highly shocked overall. T hose might t ake a good
polish but f or our purposes can look dark and unappealing up close. T his one has a clean
appearance.
T he t hin sect ion was made f rom t his t wo and a half gram part slice of NWA 5742.
Pret t y f resh mat erial.
Wit h light behind t he t hin sect ion we see mineral f ragment s in generally light colors
and some darker clast s. T he clast st icking out of t he curved edge at t en o’clock was
cut f rom t he bump on t he edge of t he slice seen in t he pict ure above. T he t hin sect ion
is f rom t he middle of t he slice. T he slice was t hree millimet ers t hick.
Up closer we see t hat most of t he mineral f ragment s are angular.
T his f ield is t hree millimet ers wide. We see smaller and smaller f ragment s. Ult imat ely
t hey are so f ine t hat t hey don’t let light t hrough and appear as dark mat rix. Now, let ’s
look at some clast s.
T his clast shows in t he overall T S pict ure as a dark oval near t he cent er of t he bot t om
t hird. Here we see it in ref lect ed and t ransmit t ed light . It is most ly needles and well
shocked. Each f rame is 1.5 mm wide.
T his is t he 10 o’clock bump. Obviously a dif f erent lit hology f rom it s surroundings.
Ref lect ed light on lef t and combined ref lect ed and crossed polars on t he right . Each
f rame is 2.2 mm wide.
T his 3 mm wide f ield cont ains several clast s set in t he “normal” groundmass.
Ref lect ed light . Below is t he same f ield in combined ref lect ed light and t ransmit t ed
cross polarized light .
Combined ref lect ed light and t ransmit t ed crossed polar light view of t he same 3 mm
wide f ield shown above.
T hese t wo bit s of met al (one above t he ot her) are brilliant ly shiny in ot her light . Here
we see t hey’ve st ained a lit t le of t heir surroundings. T hey are about 0.2 mm across.
T hey are t he only met al I saw on t his slide.
And last , a pret t y pict ure wit h crossed polars. T his mineral f ragment is about 0.4 mm
wide.
A Brief History of the Saharan Gold Rush of Meteorites
by Michael Gilmer
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(phot o - Remot e open desert , credit Court ney Walker)
- Prologue
T he t erm “Saharan Gold Rush” (or “Saharan Rush” or “NWA Gold Rush”) is generally used t o
describe a period of t ime f rom t he mid 1990′s t o t he f irst f ew years of t he 21st cent ury. It was a
period t hat spanned about 10 years and is now widely considered t o be concluded. During t his
period, a vast f lood of met eorit es began t o pour out of t he Saharan desert t hrough Morocco int o
t he hands of European and West ern dealers. Previously, met eorit es were much more scarce and
t ypes like howardit es were considered t o be rare exot ics beyond t he reach of many privat e
collect ors. T he Saharan Gold Rush f looded t he market place wit h numerous rare t ypes and
t housands of unclassif ied met eorit es of all descript ions. T he sudden inf lux of new mat erial upset
t he balance bet ween t he old-guard dealers, well-heeled collect ors, and museums. Suddenly, a
collect or operat ing on a small budget could af f ord t o buy such luxuries as howardit es,
carbonaceous chondrit es, and event ually planet aries. Museums and inst it ut ions opened t heir
cabinet s and t raded pieces of rare hist orical f alls t o acquire t he new exot ics f rom t he hot desert s
of Nort hwest Af rica.
During all of t his sudden upset and act ivit y amongst met eorit e collect ors and dealers, t he int ernet
rose t o prominence and f urt her alt ered t he landscape of t he market place. T he widening
availabilit y of t he int ernet t o dist ant locales like Morocco, opened up direct lines of communicat ion
bet ween t he Moroccan met eorit e sources and t he buyers all across t he planet . Met eorit es wit h
NWA numbers began t o out -number met eorit es wit h names, and collect ors could swell t heir
cabinet s by pat rolling eBay f or t he lat est new of f erings f rom t he desert s. T he Saharan Gold Rush
ult imat ely result ed in t ot al upheaval of t he global met eorit e market and it was inarguably a bount y
of mat erial f or collect ors, dealers and inst it ut ions alike. We will now examine t he t imeline and key
event s of t his period and how it has ef f ect ed t he market place of t oday and t he f ut ure.
- Genesis
It is hard t o pin down an exact t ime and place t hat t riggered t he Saharan Rush. We do know t hat
t he f irst met eorit es t o be discovered in t he Sahara were f ound by local t ribesmen and desert
nomads. T hese people were of t en of Arabic, Moroccan, Berber, Bedouin, or Tuareg descent and
some of t hem are int imat ely f amiliar wit h t he vast desert s of Nort hwest Af rica t hat are collect ively
called t he Saharan Desert . Technically speaking, t he Saharan desert st ret ches across t he
boundaries of several nat ions, including Morocco, Algeria, Maurit ania, Niger, Mali, Sudan, Libya and
Egypt . T he majorit y of met eorit es coming out of t he desert s pass t hrough Morocco and end up
wit h t he designat ion of “NWA” or “unclassif ied NWA” by t he Nomenclat ure Commit t ee (NonCom) of
t he Met eorit ical Societ y. T his f ormal nomenclat ure is widely used in t he world of privat e collect ors
and dealers, and t hese met eorit es are generally ref erred t o as “NWA” regardless of where t hey
originat ed in t he Sahara.
West ern and European f ossil hunt ers had a long presence in Morocco and Maurit ania because t his
same geographic area also holds rich deposit s of f ossils, minerals, and prehist oric human
art if act s. When t he nomads began bringing back unusual black rocks f rom t he open desert , some
of t he rock and f ossil dealers t ook not ice. Word soon spread across t he region t hat f oreign
dealers would pay t he “handsome sum” of pennies or nickels per gram f or t hese heavy, black
rocks. T he nomads and desert dwellers t hen st art ed t o act ively look f or t hese st ones and t hey
discovered t hat t he remot e desert was lit erally sprinkled wit h dist inct ive and pot ent ially-valuable
met eorit es. Because t he Saharan desert climat e is ideal f or preserving met eorit es, t here were
t ens of t housands of years wort h of f allen met eorit es laying exposed in t he sand dunes and on
t he desert pavement . As mineral, f ossil, and art if act st ocks began t o dwindle, prof it -minded
dealers began t o f ocus on met eorit e recovery, and t hey inf ormed t heir local part ners about
ident if ying met eorit es and t elling t hem apart f rom t errest rial mat erial. T his result ed in a lit eral
f lood of new met eorit es emerging f rom t he Sahara and t he nomads brought t hem out by t he sack
and camel-load. T he bount y included hundreds of common chondrit es and dozens of new
examples of rare t ypes, including Lunar and Mart ian met eorit es.
Laborat ories and inst it ut ions began receiving increasing numbers of request s f or analysis on new
Saharan mat erial. Museum curat ors were bombarded wit h t rade request s, of f ering t o exchange
t he new desert exot ics f or hist orical met eorit e specimens. T he very f irst met eorit e dealers and
wholesalers now had a golden opport unit y t o make a handsome prof it and t o grow t heir own
collect ions f or pennies on t he dollar. Unclassif ied met eorit es could be purchased direct ly f rom
Moroccan t raders f or very low prices, and once f ormally analyzed in t he West , t hese same
met eorit es would f et ch a considerable prof it on t he ret ail collect or market . T he smell of money
began t o waf t across t he desert dunes, and t he Saharan Gold Rush st art ed in earnest .
In order t o avoid paying f ull ret ail price on t hese new desert met eorit es, dealers and collect ors had
t o deal direct ly wit h t heir Moroccan count erpart s. T he local Moroccans would receive t he new
met eorit es f rom t heir part ners who rout inely combed t he remot e areas of t he desert during t heir
t ravels. Much of t his t rading act ivit y cent ered around t he Moroccan cit y of Erf oud, not f ar f rom
t he Algerian border. T hese met eorit es would t hen be made available, at a mark-up, f rom t he
wholesalers in local market s and homes in places like Erf oud and Rissani.
At f irst , t he int ernet was not widely available in Morocco or t he Sahara, so word of t hese of f erings
did not spread widely t o t he global market place. T he only Moroccans wit h access t o t he int ernet
during t he beginnings of t he Gold Rush were t he wealt hy-individuals or cit y dwellers, so t his limit ed
t he locals’ abilit y t o market goods t o t heir f ull pot ent ial. Banking, shipping, and f inancial services in
Morocco (and across t he Sahara) were not closely t ied t o f oreign services during t he early st ages
of t he Rush, so t hese limit at ions also helped keep t he met eorit e t rading concent rat ed in a hands
of a f ew f oreign dealers and well-connect ed local wholesalers. PayPal was not accept ed in
Morocco (and st ill is not ), USPS did not have parcel service t o Morocco, and t he only expedient
way t o t ransf er f unds bet ween a f oreign buyer and a Moroccan seller was via direct bank t o bank
wire-t ransf er. Indeed, many of t hese limit at ions are st ill in place and are only recent ly beginning t o
be lif t ed. All of t hese f act ors t ilt ed t he playing f ield of t he met eorit e market place t o t he f oreign
dealers who had ready access t o an audience of client s and pot ent ial buyers.
T he West ern and European dealers did not have direct access t o t he remot e areas of t he desert
where t he met eorit es were f ound, and t he Moroccans did not have easy access t o t he global
market place of buyers. So an alliance of necessit y was f ormed, and it was a somet imes
cont ent ious one, bet ween t he f oreign dealers and t he local Moroccan t raders. T his st at us-quo
was maint ained, in part by necessit y and in part by dealer design, t hroughout t he majorit y of t he
Saharan Rush, and t he event ual shat t ering of t his st at us-quo would signal t he beginning of t he
end f or t he f lood of cheap, new met eorit es f rom t he desert s.
(phot o - market place in Marrakech Morocco, credit Bryce Edwards)
- T he Peak
As t he f low of met eorit es grew int o t he many hundreds, t he scient if ic est ablishment and
ambit ious privat e individuals began t o t ake not ice of t he source of t hese new met eorit es.
Expedit ions were launched by universit ies, government s, and privat e hunt ers t o seek out
met eorit es in t he remot e desert s, bypassing t he nomadic middlemen and preserving t he original
f ind locat ions f or science (and increasing pot ent ial prof it s f or privat e hunt ers). T he desert s of
Libya and Oman began t o open up and yield f ant ast ic new f inds of rare met eorit e t ypes, including
many planet aries and Vest ans. Privat e individuals who had t he money and f reedom t o t ravel,
could visit t he desert as t ourist s and mount t heir own expedit ions t o f ind met eorit es, of t en wit h
t he help of local guides or cont act s. T he privat e hunt ers and of f icial expedit ions, could accurat ely
log t he original f ind locat ions, helping t o preserve valuable scient if ic dat a t hat was of t en lost by
nat ive f inders who did not have GPS equipment or t raining.
Unf ort unat ely, some privat e dealers were more concerned wit h preserving t heir monopoly over a
new f ind locat ion, so t hey would not accurat ely report t he coordinat es of t he f inds, result ing in
f alse dat a being perpet uat ed int o scient if ic lit erat ure and research. As a result of t his unet hical
pract ice, t he of f icial governing body of met eorit e nomenclat ure t reat s all NWA met eorit es wit h a
measure of suspicion when it comes t o t he st at ed f ind locat ions and circumst ances. T his is why
t he vast majorit y of Saharan met eorit es receive a NWA cat alogue number and not a proper place
name. Obvious examples of t his pract ice are t he met eorit es wit h t he “Sahara” name and
cat alogue numbers which have dubious f ind dat a. It was because of t his pract ice, in part , t hat
museums and inst it ut ions began t o t urn t heir collect ive noses up at NWA mat erial. T hese exot ic
new met eorit es had begun t o f lood t he market t o such an ext ent , t hat cert ain rare t ypes were no
longer considered “rare” and t he exact point of origin of t hese met eorit es was f requent ly
uncert ain. Museums st opped t rading rare mat erial wit h solid provenance f or Saharan mat erial of
nebulous origins (pun int ended). T he closing of t he museum cabinet s and inst it ut ion collect ions t o
NWA mat erial signaled t he end of t he f irst phase of t he Saharan Rush. Even t hough many
inst it ut ions and curat ors eschewed Saharan mat erial, privat e collect ors eagerly embraced t hese
new met eorit es and were willing t o pay premium prices f or t he same specimens t he inst it ut ions
reject ed. T his would signal t he coming peak period of NWA collect ing.
T he init ial excit ement and conf usion f inally wore of f , and now t he met eorit e dealers f ound
t hemselves wit h swollen cof f ers f illed wit h all sort s of valuable met eorit es t hat inst it ut ions were
no longer clamoring over. For t he average “end collect or”, t he f loodgat es opened wide. T he
met eorit e market bef ore t he Rush was a place of paper cat alogues, snail mail purchases, and
long-dist ance t elephone calls. Of f ers of t en circulat ed by word of mout h and opport unit ies f or
collect ors were limit ed. Had t he Saharan Gold Rush happened several years earlier t han it did, it ’s
impact would not have been as widespread or deeply f elt . T he market place f or collect ibles and
second-hand goods was changing independent ly of t he met eorit e world, and t he rise of t he
int ernet and eBay changed t he rules of t he game as much as t he new met eorit es changed t he
supply sit uat ion. Wit h t he growing dominance of eBay, any person wit h a checking account could
become a prolif ic t rader and t he kit chen-t able met eorit e dealer was born. A quick search of eBay
yielded several sellers of f ering dozens of met eorit es each, in a wide variet y of sizes and t ypes.
T he micromount became a st aple of t he market , and buyers were f everish over t humbnail-sized
met eorit e samples and rare t ypes were of t en t raded as specks or crumbs. Five dollars could buy
a piece of Vest a and lunar met eorit es appeared in t he most budget -limit ed collect ions.
As t ime progressed, t he number of eBay sellers of f ering met eorit es exploded. Event ually,
hundreds of sellers across t he world were selling t housands of met eorit es and it became possible
f or collect ors t o amass a previously unheard-of select ion of rare f alls and exot ic t ypes. Around
t his t ime, some dealers had so many unclassif ied met eorit es wait ing f or at t ent ion, t hat t hey
began selling t hem in bulk lot s of one kilogram or larger. End collect ors could now purchase
met eorit es by t he pound in t he same way one might purchase rice or cof f ee. T he majorit y of
t hese bulk met eorit es were st ony, unclassif ied t ypes t hat were weat hered and covered in caliche.
T here were some diamonds hiding in t he rough, and some rare t ypes and valuable planet aries
managed t o slip out f rom dealer collect ions and int o t he hands of lucky, unsuspect ing buyers. T his
happened so of t en t hat it garnered it ’s own t erm, “winning t he Moroccan lot t ery”. Email list s and
message boards were brimming wit h st ories about buyers who bought bulk lot s of unclassif ieds
and t hen had some of t hose cheap met eorit es analyzed t o discover rare t ypes wort h much more
t han what t he buyer paid. Eucrit es, howardit es, carbonaceous t ypes, and achondrit es were
popping up all over t he place. Rumurut is, acapulcoit es, brachinit es, angrit es, lodranit es, and new
ungrouped t ypes came t o light on a regular basis. Compet it ion bet ween dealers became f ierce as
buyers had t he luxury of shopping around f or “bargains” on t he most rare met eorit es. Prices
dropped t o hist orical lows and blue-collar Joe Q. Public could af f ord a drawer f ull of Vest ans and
planet aries. It was not unusual f or ent ry-level collect ors t o own big 10-kilogram iron Campos and
gram-sized slices of Lunars and Mart ians. T his period was a t ime of plent y f or buyers and dealers
alike, and t he f low of met eorit es f rom t he Sahara f illed boot hs and rooms at mineral shows, t o
f eed t he ever-growing demand.
For about 4 or 5 years, t his bount if ul buf f et of rare met eorit es cont inued unabat ed, unt il t wo
t hings changed : t he Moroccans st art ed selling more direct ly t o end collect ors, and t he local
f inders f igured out t hat t he middlemen and dealers were making a killing on t hese desert rocks.
T he nomads who brought t he met eorit es out of t he desert , of t en at great risk f rom dangerous
areas like Algeria, want ed more f air compensat ion f or t heir f inds. T his increased t he wholesale
price t hat t he Moroccan t raders in t he cit y had t o pay, and t hose t raders increased t heir own
prices in t urn. T his t urn of event s unf olded just a f ew years ago, and f or vet eran members of t he
met eorit e communit y, t his was t he proverbial writ ing on t he wall t hat t he market was changing
again and t he Rush might soon become a t rickle. T his increase in wholesale prices also coincided
wit h t he f irst signs of a deplet ed supply f rom t he desert . T he big, obvious, and easy t o f ind
met eorit es were f ound and sold over t he years, and as t ime went on, f ewer met eorit es were
coming out of t he Sahara. What ’s more, many of t he met eorit es coming out in t he lat er st ages of
t he Rush were of lower qualit y and more weat hered t han previous f inds. Only t he occasional f resh
f all broke up t he parade of sandblast ed unclassif ied chondrit es, inf using t he market wit h f reshly
crust ed st ones f rom f alls like Oum Dreyga, Bassikounou, Chergach, and more recent ly Tamdakht .
(phot o - select ion of unclassif ied chondrit es f rom a Moroccan source, circa 2007,
Michael Gilmer)
- Plateau and Decline
In t ime, t he availabilit y of t he int ernet in Morocco became more widespread. Where it was once
t he domain of t he wealt hy, universit ies and t he occasional caf e, now it is not uncommon t o see
lapt op comput ers and int ernet -capable cell phones in Morocco. FedEx planes make regular t rips
t o Morocco, picking up and dropping of f goods t hat are purchased over t he int ernet or dest ined
f or sale on t he world wide web. Previously, one had t o work over a long period of t ime t o cult ivat e
connect ions in Morocco t o purchase met eorit es. Wit h t he spread of t he int ernet came social
net working, and it became more common t o see Moroccan dealers wit h Facebook prof iles
of f ering met eorit es direct ly t o t he public at large. T he “good old boy net works” were f inally broken
and any person wit h a lit t le bit of cash could buy t he same met eorit es t he big dealers buy, and
f rom t he same wholesale sources t hat t he big boys purchase f rom.
By t his t ime, buying wholesale did not have t he same meaning it did previously. T he range
bet ween wholesale and ret ail pricing began t o shrink as t he Moroccans st art ed charging more
money f or t heir mat erial t o cover t he increased cost s of dealing wit h t he nomads and t o increase
t heir own prof it s as new ret ailers in a market t hat had previously limit ed t hem t o wholesale st at us.
T he f irst obvious signs of t his change began t o be recognized at t he big annual met eorit e shows
in Tuscon, Ensisheim, and Denver. Where once t here were numerous wholesalers of f ering big
crat es of unclassif ied met eorit es f or pennies per gram, t he t ables began t o dry up and t he
of f erings became f ewer and more expensive. Savvy dealers wit h invest ment capit al recognized
what was happening and t hey st art ed buying up large quant it ies of met eorit es bef ore t he prices
and availabilit y could det eriorat e any f urt her. T his st ockpiling of met eorit es bordered on hoarding
in some cases, and it put a f urt her st rain on t he decreasing supply of desert f inds. People f rom all
part s of t he met eorit e world, dealers and collect ors, began t o wonder aloud how much longer t he
Gold Rush could cont inue.
For t he f irst t ime since t he beginnings of t he f lood, buyers st art ed t o realize t hat t hey were in t he
midst of a t emporary period of plent y t hat could end soon. For t he aut hor, t he f irst personal signs
of market decline was when my wholesale source report ed t hat new desert met eorit es at t he
Tucson 2008 show were priced at t he highest levels yet , t he qualit y of of f erings was st eadily
declining, and t he quant it y of mat erial was a f ract ion of what it was in previous years. For t he f irst
t ime, I began t o pay more t han $50 per kilogram f or weat hered, unclassif ied, Saharan met eorit es.
T hose bulk “wholesale” lot s did not cont ain nearly as many diamonds in t he rough as previously,
and f inding a rare t ype st art ed t o become rare again. St ories of buyers “hit t ing t he Moroccan
lot t ery” began t o decline and be replaced wit h complaint s about caliche-covered st ones devoid of
crust and oxidized int ernally. Worse st ill, t he recent f resh f alls like Chergach, Bassikounou and
Oum Dreyga had been largely hunt ed out and t he st rewnf ields were picked clean of t he f reshest ,
nicest st ones. Examples of t hese recent f alls went f rom black crust ed whole st ones t o broken
f ragment s wit h obvious oxidat ion. T he st rains of increased demand were f inally cat ching up wit h
t he supply, and t he sit uat ion we current ly see began t o evolve.
- Af termath
Around t he same t ime t hat t he Saharan Rush was in st eady decline, several spect acular f alls
grabbed t he public eye and put t he f ocus of t he mass media squarely on met eorit es. In addit ion
t o t he usual news out let s (which f requent ly bot ched t heir met eorit e coverage wit h f act ual errors
and misinf ormat ion), blogs, websit es, message boards, and YouTube were abuzz wit h excit ement
surrounding t he f alls of Buzzard Coulee, Almahat a Sit t a, Ash Creek, and Lort on. T hese f alls
generat ed great publicit y wit h bolide videos, cell phone phot os, hunt ing st ories and f ront -page
news. Buzzard Coulee’s spect acular f ireball lit up t he night sky while capt ured on f ilm. Ash Creek
produced t he f irst “met eorit e f inding dog”. Almahat a Sit t a was discovered in space and it ’s f all
sit e accurat ely predict ed. T he Lort on met eorit e f all punched a hole in t he roof of a dent ist ’s
of f ice and a legal bat t le ensued over ownership. And recent ly, school kids f ound met eorit es on
t he playground f rom t he Mif f lin f all.
For t he f irst t ime, new met eorit e f alls generat ed excit ement out side of t he usual collect or circles
and energized t he lay public about t he once-esot eric subject of met eorit es. Cable t elevision
viewers were t reat ed t o t he very f irst program dedicat ed solely t o hunt ing space rocks
(“Met eorit e Men” on t he Discovery Science Channel), and “met eorit e” suddenly became a
household word. All of t his at t ent ion increased demand even f urt her and t he short age of supply
become impossible t o ignore. When wholesale st ocks of desert met eorit es st art ed t o run low,
some of t he dealers who had been hoarding large quant it ies of specimens opened t heir vault s and
released huge amount s of mat erial ont o t he market in an ef f ort t o f eed t he demand and make a
handsome prof it f rom t heir invest ment s. T his alleviat ed t he supply short age somewhat , but
ult imat ely it would only delay t he inevit able.
So where are we t oday in relat ion t o t he Gold Rush? Arguably, t he Gold Rush is over, alt hough we
are st ill enjoying some of t he f ruit s of t hat period. Compared t o t he t ime bef ore t he Rush,
collect ors st ill have a large select ion of rare t ypes t o choose f rom, at prices t hat are considerably
lower t han t he pre-int ernet days. A new collect or wit h an eBay account can amass an impressive
t ype collect ion or f all collect ion in a f ract ion of t he t ime it would have t aken in t he days of snail
mail and money orders.
As t he f irst decade of t he 21st cent ury comes t o a close, t he select ion and overall availabilit y of
specimens has gone int o a slow decline. eBay is no longer t he sole dominat e market f or
met eorit es and many dealers have migrat ed away f rom t he deaf ening roar of eBay t o f ind quiet er
and more prof it able past ures elsewhere on t he web. Many dealers now have ecommerce
websit es wit h built -in checkout f unct ions, so met eorit es can be purchased inst ant ly on impulse,
and are not subject t o t he f ickle nat ure of eBay or auct ion bidders. Some dealers also operat e on
Facebook, using t heir personal prof iles or business pages t o announce new specimens and makes
of f ers. Wit h t he landscape of t he market now spread out over a wider area, buyers must do a
lit t le more searching t o get t he big pict ure of specimen availabilit y. Collect ors who rely solely on
eBay (or avoid it ent irely) are only get t ing a part ial pict ure of t he met eorit e market . T his
prolif erat ion of new dealers and new avenues of sale was made possible, in large part , by t he
Saharan Gold Rush.
Even t hough supplies are declining and prices are rising, a massive amount of mat erial was
dumped on t o t he market place during t he peak period of t he Rush. Met ric t ons of met eorit es are
now in privat e hands t hat were once laying undiscovered in t he desert , or locked away in
inst it ut ional collect ion cabinet s. T his mass inject ion of new mat erial will have long t erm ef f ect s on
t he market place f or generat ions t o come. T he world of met eorit e collect ors has been f orever
changed by t he f lood of NWA met eorit es, and we are unlikely t o see a repeat perf ormance in t he
f ut ure. T he world only has one region like Nort hwest Af rica, where a f ort uit ous combinat ion of
geographical, legal, and climat ological f orces converged t o creat e a robust privat e market in
Morocco. Looking around t he globe, t here are no new Moroccos wait ing in t he wings, wait ing t o be
unleash a new Gold Rush of met eorit es. We have been lucky t o be a part of t he biggest
prolif erat ion of privat ely-available met eorit es in hist ory. As collect ors, dealers, wholesalers,
hunt ers and curious onlookers, we should be very grat ef ul f or our large collect ions of met eorit es
t hat are populat ed wit h rare t ypes and exot ic localit ies.
© Copyright 2010, Michael Gilmer. (www.galact ic-st one.com)
Meteorite Calendar – October 2010
by Anne Black
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Peekskill Meteorite 654 grams
by Michael Johnson
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PEEKSKILL
St one. Olivine-bronzit e chondrit e (H6)
West chest er Count y, NY, USA
Wit nessed f all, Oct ober 9, 1992
Recovered weight 12.57 kg
Specimen weight pict ured above is 654 grams
Phot o by Iris Langheinrich © R.A. Langheinrich Met eorit es
Images, t ext are Copyright © 2010 ROCKSFROMSPACE.ORG.
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ROCKS FROM OUT ER SPACE
Zhamanshin Crater Glass – Zhamanshinite
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