[meteorite-list] AD - 86 Auctions - A Case for Mercury?

[David Weir]

Hello Adam and List,

Adam wrote:

------------------------------------------
A very interesting abstract titled "Unique Angrite NWA 2999: The Case 
For Samples From Mercury" can be found at the incredibly long link 
below. The TKW for the official designation, NWA 2999 consisting of a 
dozen stones which were each studied individually is 392 grams not the 
reported amount in the abstract although additional pairings have been 
found. Under a different designation which has yet to be assigned, the 
pairings have already been locked down for study or were permanently 
acquired by two major collections.
-------------------------------------------

Congratulations again on your new angrite, I love my specimen. Certain 
constraints of a mercurian origin for angrites that were in the 
literature previously have been pretty well explained in this abstract, 
and I am a bit more optimistic now that the possibility is real... 
cautiously optimistic at least. I have a webpage that provides a glimse 
into the current investigation of the indicators of a mercurian meteorite:

http://meteoritestudies.com/protected_MERCURY.HTM

As for your NWA 2999, I have been made aware of a dealer publicly 
selling this same angrite as NWA 3164 in his Holiday 2005 catalog. He 
has quoted verbatim the significant parts from both the classification 
abstract and the main points of the abstract from the AGU Fall Meeting 
that you referenced in your post, for which you and your brother are 
co-authors. It may be plagiarism or copyrite violation, but it certainly 
is poor business ethics. I was a bit shocked by this dealer's blatent 
disrespect for not giving the proper credit to the original authors, but 
instead has simply copied word for word and inserted his NWA number 
where NWA 2999 was before. He also hypes his new angrite as "Planet 
Mercury Meteorite Discovery!" I really shouldn't expect better from this 
particular dealer, and will remain cautious of his tactics.

David