[meteorite-list] About NWA 2380 - an LL5 chondrite M. Cottingham has on EBay

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

Friday, October 12, Steve Arnold (Chicago) wrote to the List:

I recently bought 2 slices of NWA 2380 ... It is a simply a wonderful looking 
meteorite. It has grey chondrules of all shapes and sizes. This is a very porous 
meteorite and has many vesicles.


Hello Steve and List,

I got my two slices today and I cannot help but agree! One of my pieces has
a grey, glassy "megachondrule" measuring 9 millimeters in diameter! Yes, this
meteorite is very porous, vesicular and highly crystalline - just like Baszkowka
and Mount Tazerzait.

When I put one of these slices under my microscope and looked at it at 16x,
I also discovered a few beautiful, euhedral crystals in several vugs - another
feature NWA 2380 shares with Mount Tazerzait and Baszkowka!

My second slice features an orange-colored, much finer-grained angular clast
measuring 7.5 x 7.5 mm. Not sure (yet) what that is.

What I find hard to believe is that NWA 2380 should have a weathering degree
of "only" W1. Metal - if any - is weathered, corroded, or maybe even altered, so
to me this looks more like W3 (which doesn't diminish its beauty, of course!)

Best regards,

Bernd