[meteorite-list] The EL3/Aubrite/whatever - Why FOSSIL?

Sun Dec 2 08:56:13 EST 2007

Hi Dean,

Yes this is very confusing and unscientific.  As you deal in fossils, I 
think you have a gut appreciation of what a fossil is (rare occurence, once 
living, formed in a long process, from sediment deposition) and what it is 
not (an inorganic rock).  For example, Adam Hupe has been confusing the term 
relic with relict in his posts (spell check I am sure), which is basically 
the same very dubious leap of definition.  The "fossiliferous" nature can be 
better explained by:

Paleoölogists argue that the rare petrified relict ooliths formed during 
sediment deposition in an old soggy-bottomed Sahara creek from promiscuous 
remains of pyroxene-based creatures (with a DNA paucity).

"Fossil" is used in quotes to distinguish lithified alien life forms vs. 
common DNA-coded carbon life forms.  "Aubrite" is a golden glowing substance 
developed by The "Authentic Fossil" (trademarked logo) company to be used on 
watch dials in the "Relic" product line in place of radium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil,_Inc.

Alternately, Fossil (TM) may be written for marketing purposes, much like 
Amgala, Inc.

Interestingly, the MetSoc NomCom approved a whole series of Numbers starting 
with AL HAGGOUNIA 001.  Wonder if there was more to this than meets the eye? 
Why a 001 before any mention of a 002?  Is this somewhat of a departure for 
the NomCom, and the series have been used to designate numbers either 
unassignable locations in dense regions (e.g., NWA), or, regions with too 
few place names to go around (e.g. Oman), or the new category of Relict 
meteorites (e.g., Österplana) -like those recovered in some sediments known 
to yield meteorites.  Could the latter have influenced putting the premature 
numbering system in place for Al Haggounia?

LOFL,
Doug

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
To: "dean bessey" <deanbessey at yahoo.com>; 
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] The EL3/Aubrite/whatever - Why FOSSIL?

> Hi, Dean,
>
>    I'm sure someone will have the paper and a
> mountain of details, but the short-and-simple is:
> it sat in a lake bottom which turned to a swamp
> which turned to a "pan" and so forth as the Sahara
> dried out and went from a wooded grassland with
> lakes and rivers to a pocket edition of the Inferno.
>
>    A "fossil" is when other minerals, by aqueous
> alteration, replace the original (usually) organic
> materials. In a meteorite, this is the extreme form
> of weathering and terrestrialization. The term
> "fossil" fits what happened to it, although people
> leave those quotes around so you'll know the term
> is by analogy to organic fossils.
>
>    A lot of strange claims have been made about its
> age because many mistakingly believe the Sahara is
> an ancient desert. No, it was a pretty nice neighborhood
> until the last ice age glaciation started to fail. Rain
> started getting scarce in the eastern Sahara about
> 14,000 years ago and in the western Sahara about
> 12,000 years ago.
>
>    Desertification is a long process. The NE Sahara
> was home to prosperous Greek states until about 2200
> years ago, and only 2000 years ago the NW Sahara
> was one of the great Breadbaskets of the Roman Empire
> and remained so until only 1600 years ago. Not much like
> Iowa now, I understand...
>
>    Hope that helps.
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "dean bessey" <deanbessey at yahoo.com>
> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 10:18 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] The EL3/Aubrite/whatever - Why FOSSIL?
>
>
> I dont want to get involved in the thread about what
> the classification is (I will be pretty happy no
> matter what the proposed options are) but can somebody
> explain to me why its called a "Fossil" meteorite?
> I realize that the term "fossil" can be loosely used
> to describe pretty much any old stuff (You could even
> call a living person a "fossil" meaning a person with
> old fashioned stubborn views) but given that this is a
> scientific classification I would expect more rigid
> use of the term in a scientific standpoint.
> To become fossilized means that over a long peroid of
> time (Usually millions of years) actual organic
> material gets replaced by stone so that when you have
> a fossil such as a dinosaur tooth, fossil shark tooth
> or ammonite you actually have a rock and not a real
> creature. No DNA can be extracted since its only a
> rock. Thats why we dont even know if dinosaurs were
> warm or cold blooded. We are only studying a rock when
> we study dinosaur fossils - not a real original
> artifact. So called mammoth tusk fossil or 10,000 year
> old fossil buffalo bones are not really a fossil since
> you get the original item - not a fossilized version.
> Fossil insects and bacteria in amber is often not
> fossilized even if millions of years old.
> But the meteorite in question has not been fossilized.
> The chrondrules are real chrondrules and not a
> replaced with stone chrondrule. You are not getting a
> calcified stone when you buy this "fossil" meteorite.
> You are getting a real original meteorite (Even if
> highly weathered and oxidized).
> I realize that dealers (Including myself) call it a
> fossil or paleo meteorite but can somebody explain to
> me why it should be called a fossil (Or Paleo)
> meteorite?
> Thanks
> DEAN
> PS: If somebody wants 200 or 300 kilos of this email
> me for details
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 
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