[meteorite-list] PV and Iron stability

[wahlperry at aol.com]

Hi Rob and list,

The Portales Valley meteorite that we recovered was in remarkable 
condition. The meteorite only had a small portion buried in the dirt, 
the remainder exposed to the elements. There was very little surface 
rust. The PV meteorite was cut with well water and allowed to dry. The 
cut surface appeared to have rust stains along the interior in numerous 
locations. Upon closer inspection they were actually crystal structures 
/ apatite. The cut surface has been left untouched since cutting and 
still shows no signs of significant  weathering.


Sonny


-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Woolard <meteoritefinder at yahoo.com>
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Mon, Feb 15, 2010 10:52 am
Subject: [meteorite-list] PV and Iron stability


Hello,  Thanks to everyone who responded to my question concerning the 
state of their PV specimens. Stability was unanimous, with no one 
experiencing any problems with rusting.  :-)  And that brings up a 
related question concerning stability that I might should already know 
the answer to, but do not:   Is PV's apparent rust-resistance for at 
least the last 10+ years (and hopefully many more) due SIMPLY to the 
fact that the specimens were recovered so quickly, and were spared 
exposure to, and penetration of, water for hundreds to thousands of 
years? And if so, are ALL freshly recovered irons (or "metal veined" as 
in the case of PV) just inherently stable?  Or does inherent resistance 
to rusting vary from one meteorite to the next based more on the exact, 
specific chemical makeup of the iron and any particular find may or may 
not be prone to rusting regardless of how quickly it was recovered?     
Thanks in advance for any help with this,  Robert Woolard        
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