Gold Basin - Hualapai Wash Area - Arizona Meteorites

THE GOLD BASIN AREA METEORITES - ARE MORE THAN JUST THE GOLD BASIN "L4" CHONDRITIC STONES - ACTUALLY, THERE ARE A VARIETY OF METEORITES FROM THIS AREA

GOLD BASIN IS A PART OF A LARGER DRAINAGE SYSTEM, KNOWN AS HUALAPAI WASH. THERE HAVE BEEN A VARIETY OF NEW METEORITES FOUND IN THIS AREA OF NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA. THE NAME "HUALAPAI WASH" HAS BEEN FORMALLY APPROVED FOR SOME OF THESE SUBSEQENTLY FOUND L- and H-CHONDRITIC STONES. SOME OTHER CLASSIFIED CHONDRITES, WHOSE PAIRINGS ARE STILL TO BE DETERMINED, HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED "HUALAPAI WASH" AND ASSIGNED A NUMBER ON A "PROVISIONAL" BASIS. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER METEORITES FOUND IN THIS GENERAL AREA, WHOSE FIND LOCATIONS MAY OR MAY NOT BE WITHIN THE GOLD BASIN STREWN FIELD, AND THEY HAVE BEEN FORMALLY NAMED AFTER NEARBY FEATURES, SUCH AS MINES OR MOUNTAINS. THESE ARE LISTED BELOW, AS WELL.

ONLY those meteorite stones that have a designated "Hualapai Wash NUMBER", approved by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society, are ALLOWED to use the name "Hualapai Wash". All the other "untested" stones should just be referred to as "Gold Basin AREA" or "Gold Basin (UNCLASSIFIED)" meteorites.

Now that Gold Basin (L4) has been "reclassified" as (L4-6), any "Hualapai Wash NUMBERED" stone that has been classified as "L6" can now be renamed "Gold Basin (L6)". This means that ONLY those Gold Basin Area stonys that have been CLASSIFIED as an L6 can be called "Gold Basin (L6)"! Even giving a specimen the more general name "Gold Basin (L4-6)" implies that it has been classified (as an L-chondrite). To be fair, and accurate, all "untested" stones should just be referred to as "Gold Basin AREA" or "Gold Basin (UNCLASSIFIED)" meteorites.

The Following Table Lists These "Hualapai Wash Meteorites". At Least 15 of These Stones Have Been Classified as "L6".

Hualapai Wash - L6, S4, W3 (found by Donald O'Keeffe)

Hualapai Wash 002 - L6, S5, W3 (highly shocked)
Hualapai Wash 003 - L5, S4, W2 (highly shocked) - Finder Donald O'Keeffe
Hualapai Wash 004 - L5, S3, W2 (metal veined) - Finder Donald O'Keeffe
Hualapai Wash 005 - L6, S3, W2 (unweathered)
Hualapai Wash 006 - L6, S4, W2 (hi-shock & petrologic grade)
Hualapai Wash 007 - L6, S4, W3 (hi-shock & petrologic grade)
Hualapai Wash 008 - L5, S5, W1 (impact-melt breccia)
Hualapai Wash 009 - L6, S4, W4 (highly shocked & weathered)
Hualapai Wash 010 - L6, S4, W1 (2.35kg mass)

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Hualapai Wash 011 - L6, S4, W1 (Fa 24.0+/-0.3%)
Hualapai Wash 012 - L6, S4, W3 (Fa 24.2+/-0.2%)
Hualapai Wash 013 - L6, S4, W5 (Fa 23.8+/-0.4%)
Hualapai Wash 014 - L6, S4, W3 (Fa 24.3+/-0.3%)
Hualapai Wash 015 - L6, S3, W4 (Fa 24.3+/-1.5%)
Hualapai Wash 016 - L6, S3, W1 (Fa 24.0+/-0.7%)
Hualapai Wash 017 - L6, S5, W3 (Fa 25.0+/-0.4%)
Hualapai Wash 018 - L5, S4, W1 (Fa 24.6+/-0.5%)
Hualapai Wash 019 - L5, S4, W1 (Fa 23.9+/-0.2%)

Click "HERE" for more detailed information.

THERE ARE SOME "UNCLASSIFIED" GOLD BASIN AREA METEORITES - THAT DID NOT GET USED IN THIS STUDY - THAT ARE STILL AVAILABLE TO OTHER RESEARCHERS, AS WELL AS, TO COLLECTORS!

"CLICK" HERE TO SEE THESE "UNCLASSIFIED" GOLD BASIN AREA METEORITES!

Classified as an "L4" chondritic stone in 1995, these stones that come from the Gold Basin strewn field are well recognized. Since then, AT LEAST 30 OTHER meteorite stones have been found NEAR OR WITHIN this strewn field, and have been CLASSIFIED.
As many as 10 are "unpaired", or can be considered as "overlapping strewn fields", if you will!

The Following Table Lists All of the "Gold Basin Area Meteorites"
(in CHRONOLOGICAL order by find date):

The following information is from the Meteoritical Bulletin web site:

http://meteoriticalsociety.org/simple_template.cfm?code=pub_bulletin

Gold Basin (Found 1995) - L4, S3, W3 - [Or is it L4-L6, S3-S5, W1-W5??]

White Elephant - L4, S3, W3 -
35º53.4'N, 114º12.2'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1997 January 05
(indistinguishable from Gold Basin[1995]) Found by John Blennert; recognized by A. T. Jull after C14 testing.

King Tut - Ordinary chondrite (L5 S3 W2) -
35º55.4'N, 114º6.1'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1997 March 06
A 19.51 g stone was found by John Blennert while he was searching for gold with a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (D. Kring, UAz): olivine, Fa24.7±0.5; pyroxene, Fs20.4±0.1 Wo1.6±0.1; kamacite contains 0.7±0.2 wt% Co; shock stage, S3; weathering grade, W2; probably not paired with Gold Basin based on a terrestrial age measurement of 11.4±1.8 ka (T. Jull, UAz). Specimens: type specimen, 0.6 g plus 6 thin sections, UAz; main mass with finder.

Hualapai Wash 021 - Ordinary chondrite (H4 S1 W2) -
35º53.37'N, 114º11.52'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1997 March 11
A 20.5 g stone was found by John Blennert while he was searching for meteorites with a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (D. Kring, UAz): olivine, Fa19; shock stage, S1; weathering grade, W2; Specimens: type specimen, 6.6 g plus thin sections, UAz; main mass with UAz.

Temple Bar - Carbonaceous chondrite (CR) -
35º55'N, 114º26'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1998 autumn
A 106 g stone was found by a prospector near the road, 7 miles south of Temple Bar. Classification and mineralogy (M. Killgore, SWML): chondrules range from 0.4 to 4 mm, and comprise .50 vol%; metal occurs mostly inside chondrules; brownish-yellow phyllosilicates present; olivine, Fa2.3 , range Fa0.7.4.3 , n = 10; probably little shocked; weathering grade, W5. Specimens: main mass, SWML; 23 g, ASU.

Golden Rule - Ordinary chondrite (L5) -
35º52.4'N, 114º12'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1999 February 16
A 797.6 g stone was found by Ingrid Monrad while she was searching for pieces of the Gold Basin meteorite using a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (D.Kring, UAz): olivine, Fa24.1±0.5; pyroxene, Fs20.6±0.8Wo2.0±0.4; shock stage, S3; weathering grade, W1. Specimens: type specimen, 22 g plus two thin sections, UAz; main mass with finder.

White Hills - Mesosiderite -
35º51.4' N, 114º13.4' W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1999 December 12
An 11.7 g meteorite was found by Jim Kriegh while he was surveying the Gold Basin strewnfield with a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (I. Daubar and D. Kring, UAz): metal, 37 vol%, is dominantly kamacite (6.0 wt% Ni), with some taenite (39.47 wt%Ni); silicate portion, 63 vol%, is dominantly pigeonite (Fs33.4 Wo2.8 ) with augite exsolution (Fs42.7 Wo42.3 ) and plagioclase (Ab89.5 Or0.4 ), with minor olivine (Fo76.91 ), tridymite, phosphate, chromite, troilite, schreibersite, and rutile; shock stage estimated at S2 from pyroxene; weathering grade, W1. Specimens: main mass with finder; type specimen, .3 g plus two thin sections, UAz

Golden Mile - Ordinary chondrite (H4 S1 W1) -
35º53.4'N, 114º10'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 2000 October 31
A 378.8 g stone was found by Ingrid Monrad while she was searching for pieces of the Gold Basin meteorite using a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (D.Kring, UAz): olivine, Fa18±3; pyroxene, Fs15±5.2?; shock stage, S1; weathering grade, W1. Specimens: type specimen, 30 g plus thin sections, UAz; main mass with finder.

Hualapai Wash - (L6, S4, W3) -
35º51.8'N, 114º11.6'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 2000 November 18
A 240.5 g stone was found by Donald O'Keeffe while he was searching for meteorites with a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (A. Rubin, UCLA): olivine, Fa24.6; shock stage, S4; weathering grade, W3; Specimens: type specimen, 20.5 g plus thin sections, UCLA; main mass with finder.

Hualapai Wash 020 - Ordinary chondrite (H5 S2 W2) -
35º50.3'N, 114º 9.97'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 2003 January 02
A 60.9 g stone was found by an acquaintance of John Adams while he was searching for meteorites with a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (D. Kring, UAz): olivine, Fa18.7; pyroxene, Fs16.8; shock stage, S2; weathering grade, W2; Specimens: type specimen, 14.25 g plus thin sections, UAz; main mass with John Adams.

The following Gold Basin (L6) & (L5) meteorites are classified, but their names are "provisional":

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Submitted to the Nom. Comm. but still Pending Approval:

John Wolfe's first big find Blue Bird
and Mark Bostick's "Puzzle" meteorite?!!

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RobertVerish, Field Investigator, P.O. Box 237 Sunland, CA 91040

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08/08/08