While at the Tucson Show this past February, I came across this Arizona meteorite that was for sale. It was a 75 gram chondritic stone that was found by John Wolfe the previous year in the Buck Mountain Wash area of Mohave County. It was actually two finds by John - a nearly whole individual and a smaller fragment - two fragments that were separated by ~50 feet. But John found that the smaller fragment could be fit back onto the larger piece - making it a complete individual, which makes these two fragments "physically-paired".

What I found interesting was that, although these two fragments were separated by only a few feet, the patina on the exterior of the smaller fragment was a much darker-color than the patina on the larger fragment. The best explanation that I could come up with was that the weathering environment was somehow different for each of these two fragments. To me, these fragments were a very good example of how "micro-environments" could produce localized conditions that would result in variable weathering grades in a meteorite.

So, I bought this meteorite and took it home to be classified.

The above image and the next 3 images were taken by this author at the 2007 Tucson Show.

The following images in this gallery show the specimen after it was cut.
(In the images below, the meteorite has been placed next to its label.)

The above image shows that the cut appears to have revealed an interior that is much less weathered than would have been expected, considering the degree of weathering of the exterior. But the cut reveals even more about this find. The cut suggests that this meteorite could be an L-chondrite. (This is supported by the observation that a magnet has only a weak attraction and a metal detector has a poor response to this stone.) And if this find were to be classified as an L-chondrite, it's also possible that it may be paired to one of the existing L6 meteorites that have already been found within the Franconia strewn field.
So now, my main interest in this find is to get it turned-in for classification. And as luck would have it, it got classified in record time.
See classification below.

In the image, below, is depicted a close-up of this cut surface.

What we now know about John Wolfe's meteorite from this cut surface:

The above close-up image reveals an interior that has a uniformly orange-colored groundmass, exhibiting a mottled appearance because of tarnished sulfide grains and metal grains that have partially oxidized, This oxide has locally stained the matrix with a rusty color producing the "orange-colored" appearance. There is no demarcation between the exterior and the interior, because there is no evidence of a rind, let alone a relict fusion-crust. And the few, larger chondrules that are discernable, are clearly well-equilibrated with the crystalline groundmass, which indicates this stony to be an equilibrated Ordinary Chondrite (OC).

In the image, below, we see the reconstructed stone and how the two fragments fit back together.

The image, below, is the same view as the image above, but it was taken at a different angle.

The image, below, is the same view as the image above, but it was taken at a different angle.

Here is what we now know about John Wolfe's Buck Mountains meteorite find:

Found:  North of the Buck Mountains in Mohave County, Arizona.
 
Date of find:  2006 December 12 
 
Class: Stone. Chondrite, Ordinary (L6, S3, W2, olivine Fa 24.1 +/-0.5)
 
TKW:  Approx. recovered weight:  75.4 grams  

Finder:  One whole stone (in 2 pieces) of TKW = 75.4grams was found by John Wolfe of Iowa.  
 
Specimens:  9.30 grams (type specimen)

Main mass:   with (Verish).
 

Postscript: I've been asked why I use the phrase "Buck Mountains (L6)" for this stone. The short answer is, "sounds better that Franconia (L6)". But a better answer requires a better explanation.
First, do you remember "Gold Basin (L6)"?
Yes, I know that's ancient history, but if you remember, when researchers tried to get names approved for those "Gold Basin Area" meteorites that were classified as "L6", they were told to just call them "Gold Basin (L6)". Well, given that precedent, it seemed prudent to use that same naming convention for classified stones from the Buck Mountains area.

This stone needed a name, because when it was purchased it was labeled as "Buck Mountain Wash 002". But that provisional name was not offically approved, so I had to change the label. Maybe the original label was a typographical error, and should have been titled "Buck Mountains 002", because both this stone and the Buck Mountains 002 stone were found by John Wolfe. And since both of these finds are now classified as "L6", that would make sense to give it that name, as well, but then there's the problem that these two stones have not been shown to be paired. One problem is that the olivine Fa% do not overlap. In fact, based on these same numbers, this stone is a closer match to the Palo Verde Mine (L6) classification. But since the last L6 was named "Buck Mountains 003" (and it is NOT paired to BM 002, personal communication with classifier) it is very likely this numbering sequence will be continued. But predicting what the name might be isn't easy, and besides, I've learned that it's not very popular to number meteorites.
So that's why I call this classified find a "Buck Mountains (L6)" meteorite.

If you have any information relating to Buck Mountains (L6) meteorites, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser

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For for more information, please contact me by email: Bolide*chaser