[meteorite-list] Impact material?

[Larry Nichols]

Hello Carl, 

Thanks for your interest. I have posted this to the group as I beleive it is relevant to this topic. Randy also brought up the subject of streak tests.  My opinion on this is that they cannot be very reliable since it is well known that ancient iron meteorites and pallasites weather away to hematite, magnetite and iron shale. Please allow me to reference:

Wolfe Creek Meteorite

Iron Meteorite (IIIB), Medium Octahedrite, Found: 1947, Latitude: 19 Deg 18 Min South, Longitude: 127 Deg 46 Min East, WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Please note: Due to its exposure to the earthen elements for many thousands of years the meteorite iron has changed into hematite and has formed this meteorite shale balls. The material still reacts strongly to the magnet. In the center of some very large shale balls some un-altered iron has been found and an exact analysis of the meteorite at Wolfe Creek could be done.

Also: Concerning Wolfe Creek

Please note: Due to its many thousands of years exposed to the earthen elements, the meteorite iron has changed into hematite or meteorite shale. Only in very large shale balls tiny bits of un-altered iron has been found so this meteorite could be properly analysed. This meteorite shale is still strongly attracted by the magnet. A specimen not to be missed in any collection.

And again Huckita:

Huckitta, a stony iron pallasite was found in Australia in 1924. Huckitta is the largest pallasite known, weighing over 1400 kilograms. Virtually all of Huckitta which has been available on the collector market has been extremely oxidized with weathering altering the original nickel iron matrix to hematite and magnetite. 

So in conclusion, If these are weathered meteorites, a streak test would not be very helpful in determining authenticity. That was my concern for trying to locate a larger mass that may still contain unaltered iron.

I thank all of you for the very helpful comments.

Best Regards,
Larry



> 
> From: Larry Nichols <nicholslarry at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Impact material?
> To: innocentwolf15 at hotmail.com,
> meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Saturday, June 28, 2008, 2:46 PM
> 
> Hello everyone,
> 
> Thanks to all who replied. Sean, I haven't cut and
> polished any yet. Simon,
> I would be interested in letting you cut and polish a
> couple just to see whats
> inside. We could talk about it offlist if you're still
> interested. If we
> have a positive response from this, I will take you're
> advise Moni and send
> some to UTK and see what we have. Kevin, I'm sure we
> can work something out.
> Just let me know what youre interested in. BTW I'm
> located in southern
> Middle Tennessee, about halfway between Nashville and
> Huntsville Al. I added a
> few photos of some of the other mixed possible impact
> material to the album
> (possible impact material). Thanks everyone for your
> interest.
> 
> http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/TennesseeTreasures/
> 
> Thanks again,
> Best Regards,
> Larry Nichols
> Lynnville, Tennessee
> 
> 
> --- On Sat, 6/28/08, kevin decker
> <innocentwolf15 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > From: kevin decker <innocentwolf15 at hotmail.com>
> > Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] Impact material?
> > To: nicholslarry at yahoo.com
> > Date: Saturday, June 28, 2008, 10:07 AM
> > Hi Larry,would you care to part with a couple?..I have
> a
> > microscope and would like to veiw them under it.just
> where
> > is Lynnville?I live in north GA,Rossville to be
> exact,these
> > are the type of rocks I collect.I;ve found lumps like
> that
> > around here...but mostly smaller in size,I was just
> given
> > some rocks that came from S.C,and I beleive they are
> impact
> > related.let me know if you care to sell a
> couple,I'm
> > always looking for these kinds of things,Thanks,
> > Kevin W.L.Decker
> > 
> > > Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:18:22 -0700> From:
> > nicholslarry at yahoo.com> To:
> > meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> Subject:
> > [meteorite-list] Impact material?> > Hello
> > Everyone,> > I'm looking for opinions and
> input
> > on possible impact material or meteorwrongs I've
> > collected from one specific location on my property
> here in
> > Tennessee. They vary greatly in size from a few kgs to
> small
> > metal and glassy (spherules?) To compare to
> meteorites, they
> > resemble weathered irons. Some appear to be completely
> > altered to hematite and/or magnetite. Some filed
> corners do
> > have visible metal and attract a magnet. Most are
> > aerodynamically shaped shields or nosecones, some with
> > obvious flanges. Otherwise they could possibly be some
> type
> > of splash form of impactite. Some do vary in texture
> as if
> > mixed with target rock. If these are impact related,
> they
> > are obviously from an ancient fall (find). Some are
> still
> > surfacing, but I do get strong readings from my metal
> > detector at some depth for iron and nickel in the same
> > area. I haven't tried digging any of these targets
> yet.
> > I thought I would get some opinions before proceeding.
> I
> > would appreciate any> comments pro or con or
> whether
> > it's worth digging those deeper targets. I have
> > uploaded some photos to a photobucket album:> >
> >
> http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/TennesseeTreasures/>
> > > Thanks for any input.> > Larry Nichols>
> > Lynnville, Tennessee