[meteorite-list] Names and synonyms (was ...Mali or Argelia...)

[Jeff Grossman]

Here is what I can tell everybody about official names and synonyms.

Every meteorite is given one, and only one, official name.  This is 
the name that must be used in publications.  There are no rules for 
how the name is chosen, only guidelines.  Mainly the guidelines call 
for naming the meteorite after a nearby geographic feature that can 
be found on maps. If there are competing candidates for the name, 
weight may be given to many factors in choosing which to bestow, 
including existing usage among scientists and collectors, finder's 
privileges, distribution of specimens, and a little politics now and then.

There are no rules at all concerning synonyms, although nowadays 
these are often vetted by the NomCom too.  In general, these are any 
other names by which specimens of a meteorite may have been known 
throughout history.  Synonyms are NOT official names.  Sometimes you 
see "officially recognized" synonyms, meaning the NomCom has 
published it, but it's still not an official name.  The NomCom 
usually tries to recognize synonyms when they have appeared in 
scientific publications, press reports, well-known catalogs, or when 
the meteorite is widely sold or traded under another name.

One grayish area in all of this is "named masses,"  like the 
Ahnighito, Agpalilik, Woman, Dog, and other masses of Cape 
York.  Some of these names are so engrained that even scientists who 
have long studied them don't realize they aren't the official names, 
like Filomena.  But these are also unofficial names: the official 
name for Filomena is North Chile.  Nevertheless, the NomCom 
encourages the preservation of names of such masses on specimen 
labels and in catalogs, as they convey potentially important 
information about the provenance of a particular subsample.  A good 
way of doing it would be to say "North Chile (Filomena 
mass)".  Conversely, there is little value in preserving archaic 
names that do not carry specimen information, e.g., you would never 
refer to a Kirin mass of Jilin.

jeff



Dr. Jeffrey N. Grossman       phone: (703) 648-6184
US Geological Survey          fax:   (703) 648-6383
954 National Center
Reston, VA 20192, USA