[meteorite-list] Announcing a New Planetary Find

[Michael L Blood]

Congratulations! 

        TOTALLY COOL, Dudes!

        OK, I'm sold, send me a full slice and 5 various thin sections - you
know I'm good for it.

        Kidding aside, this IS very far out!

        Best wishes, Michael


on 9/7/04 12:57 PM, Adam Hupe at raremeteorites at comcast.net wrote:

> Dear List,
> 
> It is with great pleasure that we announce a unique and before now
> undiscovered type of lunar meteorite called NWA 3136.
> 
> NWA 3136 is a unique Lunar meteorite from the surface of the Lunar Mare
> Basin.  NWA 3136 is the only lunar meteorite in the world including those
> found in Antarctica to be classified as a Mare Regolith Breccia.  Only four
> other Mare Basalt type Luniates have ever been found and they have been
> classified as various types of basalt, some monomict, others  polymict but
> none a true regolith.   In addition there are a few lunar meteorites that
> are Mare-like but with some highland components.  In our opinion and the
> scientists who have looked at it, NWA 3136 the most important lunar
> meteorite ever found.  What makes this new meteorite so important is that
> NWA 3136 has sampled several types of rocks and layers of the moon over
> time, kind of like a Howardite is to an asteroid but with more gardening
> (turning over of rocks).  This complete meteorite weighed in at only 95.1
> grams and was a perfect oriented shield.  This world-class specimen hosts
> several interesting and unique features including the following:
> 
> Vesiculated glass matrix
> Trapped solar wind gases in vesicles
> Very low Ti glass spherules of various colors
> Agglutinates
> Elemental metal easily visible to the naked eye
> Minerals that have not been seen outside of the Apollo collection
> No highland component
> World's only oriented Mare Luniate
> Greatest amount of different rock types sampled in a lunar meteorite
> 
> Link to Main Mass Image:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136MainMass.jpg
> 
> Link to Polished Surface Image Displaying Numerous Rock Types:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136PolishedSurface.jpg
> 
> Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Vesiculated Matrix:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136VesiculatedMatrix.jpg
> 
> Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Glass Spherules:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136GlassSpheres.jpg
> 
> Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Big Basalt Clast:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136BigBasaltClast.jpg
> 
> Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Melted Basalt Clast:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136MeltedBasaltClast.jpg
> 
> Link to False Colored BSE Image Showing Big Granitic Clast:
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa3136/NWA3136GranophyreBig.jpg
> 
> NWA 3136 is currently being studied by no less than five laboratories with
> more coming onboard.  Two former NASA scientists who studied the Apollo
> lunar samples are part of the collaborative effort to investigate this
> meteorite.  Old NASA research protocols for the studies of Apollo Lunar
> Materials have been implemented and a search is under way for possible new
> minerals.  Mare Regoliths are the best candidates to search for new minerals
> because every Apollo mission where a Mare Regolith was sampled a new mineral
> was discovered.  This polymict regolith breccia from the moon is the most
> complicated yet found so it may take years to discover what secrets lay
> within.
> 
> With a Total Known Weight (TKW) of only 95.1 grams there is not much to work
> with.  The scientific community has been provided with a type specimen
> deposit weighing 19 grams plus two thin-sections.  In addition a 13 gram
> complete slice has been provided for a long-term record setting Very Large
> Scale Characterization.  This is the largest surface area ever attempted on
> any Mare Luniate.  In order to preserve the orientation attribute, a Main
> Mass of 41 grams has been set aside with no plans for further reduction. Add
> in cutting loses and that leaves very little for private distribution.  The
> NWA3136 Mare main mass complements our NWA 482 Highlands main mass as both
> are oriented and sample the two major classes of meteorites from the moon.
> We are going to list 12 specimens totaling 2.2 grams of this exceedingly
> rare material on ebay later this afternoon so keep an eye out if you are
> interested.  We would like to thank the University of Washington for
> providing us with the False Colored SEM images.  Please ask before utilizing
> any of these images as the are copyrighted and we will gladly grant
> permission.
> 
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> 
> Adam and Greg Hupe
> The Hupe Collection
> Team LunarRock
> IMCA2185
> 
> 
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