[meteorite-list] Catalog of the recovered Bassikounou masses released

[Mal Bishop]

Dear Svend and Mathias,

I can't say it with any more appreciation and acclaim than everyone else 
who've already thanked you both for your extremely diligent, singular work 
on Bassikounou.  Your "Descriptive Catalog on the Recovered Masses of the 
Bassikounou Meteorite Fall" is simply astounding!  I immediately downloaded 
it, printed it, and I'm presently in the process, with excitement, 
digesting it all!

Both your descriptive catalog and your account of the fall presented on 
your website will hopefully give impetus to those in the future to present 
such similar detail when researching and documenting subsequent falls and 
even finds for that matter when possible!

I've printed out both works and placed them in a binder to sit along side 
my other reference materials.

Danke sehr,
Mal


At 02:36 PM 7/3/2007 +0200, info at niger-meteorite-recon.de wrote:
>We are pleased to announce that the Descriptive Catalog on the Recovered 
>Masses of the Bassikounou Meteorite Fall is now available as a 
>non-commercial download.
>
>The catalog lists 108 single masses of a combined weight of 62.186kg 
>(including the 6.120kg main mass) individually and another 31.665kg in 
>lots. More than 80 individual masses are pictured. The final TKW of the 
>Bassikounou meteorite fall is 93.851kg.
>
>In the latest phase of this undertaking we have often been approached by 
>collectors explaining that regarding to their observations the TKW should 
>be much higher. To prove their point they showed us images of single 
>Bassikounou meteorites or complete lots they were offered recently. In 99% 
>of these cases we had cataloged the particular masses before either 
>individually or under a certain lot.
>
>In this context it might be interesting for some of you, that many 
>meteorites change hands already before they get distributed. Moroccan 
>sellers equip their colleagues with commission material to visit Europe, 
>or they simply exchange certain batches of material between one another. 
>This is the reason why one and the same meteorite can be offered to you 
>from different sellers from the same NWA country successively.
>
>During our research we were able to follow an exemplary Bassikounou mass 
>on its journey from the local finder, to a distributor in Morroco, to a 
>meteorite fair in France, to a European mineral dealer and finally to a 
>collector in Canada. During the stations of the journey this particular 
>meteorite was offered no less than 12 times under different circumstances 
>and with different photos.
>
>This in mind it is no wonder that people think there is much more material 
>circulating than actually is. Our experience lead us to the conclusion 
>that many recent meteorite falls that produced showers are largely 
>overestimated in their total weight.
>
>We hope that our investigation may aid the understanding and recovery of 
>future meteorite falls in isolated areas. And we are positive, that our 
>undertaking helps to sensitize finders as well as distributors in 
>Mauritania and Morocco to preserve the information that is connected to 
>the meteorites they trade.
>
>You can access the complete catalog by clicking at the cover image on the 
>bottom of page 5 of the Bassikounou report:
>
>http://www.niger-meteorite-recon.de/en/Bassikounou_Meteorite_5.htm
>
>Or simply by copying the direct link into your browser:
>
>http://www.niger-meteorite-recon.de/img_inventar/Buhl_Baermann_Catalog.pdf
>
>Please allow the large document some time to load.
>
>
>Thanks again to all contributors.
>
>
>Svend Buhl & Matthias Baermann
>
>
>
>--
>www.niger-meteorite-recon.de
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