[meteorite-list] AL HAGGOUNIA 001 ("NOT" AUBRITE)

[STARSANDSCOPES at aol.com]

Hi list,  I have been fascinated by the  difficulty in identifying this 
meteorite find as an Aubrite, EL3, EL6, EL6/7 or  EL7 (did I miss a few?), but what 
also has me amazed is the dispute on the  "Fossil Meteorite" determination.

I have noticed 4 material types in the  just over 100 Kg I have. 

1. The most common is the dark brown with  occasional "Chondrules".  This 
material looks dug up and I could believe it  is matching the requirements for 
fossilized.  This is just a shot from the  hip based on appearance.

2.  The Blue phase.  This stuff also  looks like it was dug up but the 
interior seems cleaner and less porris.   On the big pieces it looks as if there is 
brown staining working it's way to the  middle.  Some are almost all blue and 
some are nearly all brown stained but  interestingly enough, the blue phase 
stained brown does not look paired to the  brown stuff (Category 1) on the 
microscope.  This is just a personal  observation and would be disputed by many so 
just chalk it up to yet an other  "Shot from the hip".

3.  The concretions.  Real cool pink to  apricot dense clumps cemented to 
chunks of blue phase or brown and a lot of what  looks to be good old fashion 
dirt and rocks.

4.  This is the most  important group to the fossil question.  The 
individuals!  These are  the ones collected on the surface with much of the features you 
would expect in  an ordinary weathered meteorite.  These do not look to be 
fossilized or  even ever buried.  The interior is often a consistent color with 
great  density not full of weathered out holes.  I know I will get killed on 
this  one, but out of hundreds I have examined, I have a couple with remnant 
patches  of crust.  Not crusted like your prize collection meteorite but still  
crust.  As I was witting this I felt silly so I dug out a prime  example.  I 
got to say it is a 3/4 inch patch of crust and not typical  interior shock 
veins exposed to the exterior through time.  This is not an  other example called 
crusted just because of a dark color.

I short, these  individuals are found on the surface and do not look 
weathered out of  soil/rock.  Separated from the first three categories I have 
mentioned, I  can not see these as resembling any thing "Fossilized".

Tom Phillips  




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