[meteorite-list] NEW Ungrouped Achondrite - NWA 5297

Fri Feb 26 14:16:54 EST 2010

Hi MikeG and List,

A little background as to my modestly trained eye when looking at suspect 
'meteorites' anywhere I go including Morocco. I have spent thousands of 
hours behind the lense of my old fashioned 10x loupe and/or newer 1-45x 
stereo microscope at home. I always use the same loupe, small LED 
flashlight, microscope and even the small magnet I use to check out suspect 
meteorites. I have developed an 'eye' for the different stones while using 
the loupe with flashlight or microscope and a 'feel' for the subtle 
attraction differences the magnet pulls to a stone, or not. The flashlight 
helps in that the lighting is almost always the same whether I am in a mud 
dwelling in the Sahara, or in a dealer room at the Tucson Show. In a 
sentence, I use the same equipment every time to establish a base point 
where I can spot differences between suspect stones to ones I know what are 
from previous study.

In the beginning it was a learning game with risk and reward. As the years 
went by, I was able to fairly quickly spot or feel the different stones, and 
if I still wasn't sure what a stone was, I either bought the stone on a 
"gamble" while in the field or sent the samples to the labs and pay the fees 
to get expert advice. This isn't cheap so be prepared to invest a lot for 
the expert's advice, then you can go into a discussion with educated 
confidence. Even in this case, errors do occur so be prepared to wait 
sometimes months to get follow-up confirmation on your samples. Patience is 
the name of the game here!! I have made my own errors by thinking a stone 
was something else other than what it actually turned out to be. I have 
"invested" in plenty of earth rocks on a gamble or have let some planetaries 
go by because of my bad visual judgment or was not willing to take a huge 
gamble on other stones.

Going back to my new Ungrouped meteorite, NWA 5297, I have all that is 
available on eBay other than a few small chips that I will offer later, 
along with the only two Buzzard Coulees with Legal Original Export Permits 
that I have. About 25% of what is available of NWA 5297 have already sold 
since I announced it yesterday!

Click here to see all that is still available: 
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnaturesvault

Have a great weekend everyone!

Best regards,
Greg

====================
Greg Hupe
The Hupe Collection
NaturesVault (eBay)
gmhupe at htn.net
www.LunarRock.com
IMCA 3163
====================
Click here for my current eBay auctions: 
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnaturesvault

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
To: "Greg Hupe" <gmhupe at htn.net>
Cc: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] NEW Ungrouped Achondrite - NWA 5297

Hi Greg and List,

Very unusual and interesting specimen Greg.

One thing that strikes me with some of these ungrouped meteorites (and
even some like Lodranites), is how they superficially resemble a
weathered OC on the outside.  I wonder how many of these oddballs I
have overlooked in my shipments of weathered uNWA?

Was there something about the external appearance of this specimen
that caught your attention?  How did you decide to have it classified
as opposed to the thousands of other similar-looking stones you have
had?  Just curious.

Best regards,

MikeG

On 2/25/10, Greg Hupe <gmhupe at htn.net> wrote:
> Dear List Members,
>
> I would like to announce a new Ungrouped Achondrite, NWA 5297.
>
> NWA 5297 is an Ungrouped Achondrite that was found in Morocco in early 
> 2008.
> A total of nine small dark stones were collected with a combined Total 
> Known
> Weight of just 130 grams. NWA 5297 does not fit in any of the known
> classification types, making it a very unusual meteorite.
>
>
>
> Image of 12.9g main mass:
>
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa5297/nwa5297e.jpg
>
>
>
> Image of 2.9g complete slice with large metal grain:
>
> http://www.lunarrock.com/nwa5297/nwa5297f.jpg
>
>
>
> Classification submitted to the Meteoritical Bulletin for NWA 5297:
>
> Northwest Africa 5297
>
> Morocco
>
> Find: March 2008
>
> Achondrite (ungrouped)
>
> History: Found near Alargoug, Morocco in March 2008 and purchased in June
> 2008 by Greg Hupé from a Moroccan dealer.
>
> Physical characteristics: A total of nine dark stones with visible metal 
> and
> a combined weight of 130 g.
>
> Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) This specimen has a
> poikiloblastic metamorphic texture with no chondrules and contains
> relatively abundant (~10 vol. %) Ni-rich metal.  The major phases are
> olivine, orthopyroxene, taenite and very sodic plagioclase with minor
> Ni-bearing troilite.
>
> Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa28.6, FeO/MnO = 54.4), plagioclase
> (Ab86.2An9.1Or4.7), taenite (~10 wt.% Ni).  Oxygen Isotopes (D. Rumble,
> CIW): replicate analyses of acid-washed silicate material by laser
> fluorination gave, respectively: d18O = 4.830, 5.032; d17O = 3.711, 3.818;
> D17O = 1.171, 1.171 per mil.
>
> Classification:  Achondrite (ungrouped).  This specimen is a metachondrite
> with an oxygen isotopic composition like those of LL chondrites; however, 
> it
> contains too much metal to be regarded as a product of metamorphism of
> typical LL chondrites, and the olivine composition is outside the range 
> for
> equilibrated LL chondrites.
>
> Specimens: A total of 20 g of sample and one polished thin section are on
> deposit at UWS.  The main mass is held by Mr. Greg Hupé (GHupé).
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Best regards,
> Greg
>
> ====================
> Greg Hupe
> The Hupe Collection
> NaturesVault (eBay)
> gmhupe at htn.net
> www.LunarRock.com
> IMCA 3163
> ====================
> Click here for my current eBay auctions:
> http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnaturesvault
>
>
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-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
http://www.galactic-stone.com
http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
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