[meteorite-list] Mohs hardness and meteorites

[Jimski47 at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/9/2011 4:24:28 P.M.  Central Daylight Time, 
meteoritemike at gmail.com writes:
Hi List,

Has  anyone ever put together a hardness list for meteorites in
relation to the  Mohs scale?

I know that irons, stony-irons, friable types (some  achondrites, LL's)
will vary greatly in hardness.  But what I am curious  about is stony
type meteorites, specifically the chondrite family.  For  example,
let's take the "typical" H5 chondrite - one of the most common of  all
meteorite types.  Where does the H5 fall on the Mohs hardness  scale?

Up until the time I started cutting and polishing meteorites,  I
assumed that an L5 would be "softer" than an H5.  But, I have  run
across some L-chondrites that are very very hard and require the  same
amount of sanding/polishing work as some H-chondrites.  I am  assuming
this is because of the individual mineral compositions of  the
meteorites in questions, and not so much the petrologic type.  So am  I
right to assume that stony meteorite hardness is not dictated solely
by  iron content?

Best regards,

Mike Gilmer
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Hi Mike,
 
Yes I believe your right to assume that iron content of a chondrite does  
not dictate it's hardness. An iron meteorite has a hardness of 4-5 which is 
what  you would get if the test point of the chondrite was on a iron flake. 
It could  be higher if the test point was in the matrix and that would depend 
on the  composition of the matrix. Feldspar which has been found in 
meteorites has a  hardness of 6 and diamond is a 10.
 
Jim Konwerski