[meteorite-list] report Munich show and AD

[Dr. Svend Buhl]

thanks Phillipe,

I have also added a comparison picture of Chergach ("Mali") and Bassikounou:

http://www.niger-meteorite-recon.de/en/meteoriten_verkauf.htm

Svend


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Philippe Thomas" <thomasmeteorites at wanadoo.fr>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: <info at niger-meteorite-recon.de>
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] report Munich show and AD


> Hello Svend and all,
>
> I put on-line on my site some photos which illustrates your comments as 
> regards the description of the meteorite fallen in the erg Chech.
>
> Best wishes,
> Philippe Thomas
> http://www.meteoritica.com/
>
>
> As Greg has already pointed out on the list earlier the Chergach/Erg Chech 
> or "Mali" material as it has been dubbed by sellers can be clearly 
> distinguished from e.g. Benguerir, Amgala,
> Bensour and Bassikounou by comparing broken or cut surfaces.
>
> "Mali" has a dark ash grey color with meandering unevenly distributed 
> blueish areas that often enclose dark grey patches, "Mali" is brecciated 
> and diplays clasts full of very small but
> distinct chondrules. "Mali" shows no black shock veining as for example in 
> Bassikounou. Unless the Bassikounou fall did not drop a second hitherto 
> unknown lithology these two are
> clearly separate events. I will later post some comparison pictures on my 
> website.
>
> With completely crusted individuals separation is difficult. The genuine 
> "Mali" material I have seen however did not show any soil staining and was 
> completely lacking the red laterite dust
> that can be found on many of the Bassikounou specimens. Differention by 
> the grade of wheathering is not possible. Both falls are to recent for 
> that.
>
> As to your question, I have the impression that the new material can 
> safely be ordered from several resellers in Morocco. Upon request I can 
> recommend a number uf reliable sources in
> Morocco to you.
> All my Chergach ("Mali") material I have purchased directly from Morocco 
> was genuine material from a different event then the ones mentioned above. 
> In Munich I purchased a 125gm
> oriented fragment among some genuine "Mali" stones and that particular 
> specimen by close inspection turned out to be a Bassikounou. The same 
> seller also offered me a another piece
> as "Mali" that I had already described in the Bassikounou catalog and that 
> could clearly be recognized by its bright red impact marks.
>
> On the other hand this same seller had a number of splendid regmaglypted 
> individuals in the kg range on his table that could easily and without 
> doubt be recognized as from the
> Chergach strewfield by examining the broken surfaces.
>
> The cause of the confusion in my opinion has to do with the complete lack 
> of confirmed intelligence on the "Mali" event. The makeshift name "Mali" 
> already indicates the misery that
> neither an exact date nor exact coordinates were available for this fall 
> in the beginning when the distribution started. The information provided 
> by A. Habibi that the distribution ellipse
> is located near Chergach in the Erg Chech did not yet make it to most of 
> the sellers offering the new material in Munich. At least on request they 
> could not tell you anything about the
> origin of their "Mali" material.
>
> I'll post any emerging insights on this on my page and I encourage 
> everyone to share their knowledge as well, as it would be a great loss if 
> the background of this beautiful meteorite
> remains a mystery.
>
> Svend
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