[meteorite-list] bleeding in stoneys-- Lawrencite Disease

[MEM]

Sorry to hear you pet is ill, Steve.  This sounds like Lawrencite Disease. It is 

contagious and your pet should be quarantined and handled only with latex or 
cotton gloves  as it is a condition you can inadvertently transfer to healthly 
members in the cage.

This comes from the mineral lawrencite:  Iron Nickle Chloride.  (Fe, Ni) Cl2 is 
a loosely bonded molecule that is in constant exchange: chlorine gives up 
its iron ion to the hydroxal ion  then goes and gets another iron or nickle 
atom-- which it will also be lost to water from the air.  The chlorine ions are 
"hygroscopic": that is they pull water out of the atmosphere. The H2O binds 
with the iron to form iron oxide aka rust and the H2 is liberated as gas.  The 
chlorine ions are a catalyst-- they are not consumed in the continuous reaction 
like other chemical reactions are. The also won't wash away easily.  Therefore 
minor chlorine contamination can consume an entire meteorite over time.

Interesting to note, the mineral lawrenceite, was originally identified in one 
of the iron meteorites from Alabama in the late 1877
<http://webmineral.com/data/Lawrencite.shtml>
>From the mineral data page on lawrencite:
Comments: Capillary tube of lawrencite solution with opaque oxidized 
precipitates, derived from hydrosocpically absorbing water from the air by solid 

lawrencite, collected from an oozing meteorite.

I think camel sweat is certainly a potential source of chlorine ions not to 
mention random handling with bare hands.  This must be kept in mind 
when adopting NWAs.

The lawrencite appears in solution as an "ooze".  It has high surface tension 
and the smaller  blobs are typically a golden iridescent ovoid.  When I first 
found them on my specimens I thought they were insect eggs.

Yes, the treatment is to completely go through the cycle of washing, soaking in 
sodium hydroxide, washing again and drying,  etc.  

Good Luck.
Elton

----- Original Message ----
> From: steve arnold <stevenarnold60120 at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] bleeding in stoneys
> 
> Hi list.I got a unclassed 82 gram endcut that bleeds. I know we have gone down 





> this road before,but what really causes this?
>  Steve R.Arnold,  Chicago!
> http://Chicagometeorites.com/
> ebay:Illinoismeteorites