Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 5 No. 2
A newsletter for uncataloged and unclassified meteorites found in the USA.
Long-time readers of Bob's Bulletin might notice a subtle change to this newsletter where we have included "Uncataloged (but classified)" meteorites to the list of "Orphaned" USA meteorites. It has come to our attention that this subset of undocumented USA finds has been growing larger with each passing year. These are finds that have been made in the USA, and which have been successfully authenticated and classified, but for a wide variety of reasons, cannot get a formally-approved name assigned to them. Consequently, they can't get formally cataloged. Some of these meteorites can languish as "unpublished" for nearly as long as their poorer cousins, the Unclassified U.S. (UU) Ordinary Chondrites (OC). In order to bring attention to their increasing numbers, this newsletter will be assigning provisional "USA" numbers to those classified USA finds before they disappear (possibly forever) into this meteoritical purgatory.
Now for some good news. We have received a few more small donations towards paying-down the cost of classification for some of the Ordinary Chondrites (OC) that have appeared in these Bob's Bulletins. Also, now that I have found some "approved classifiers" that are willing to characterize OC meteorites, some finders have come forward with their OC finds, and funds, in order to do their part to prevent their meteorites from perpetually languishing as "Unclassified".
Now, the task of finding an available microprobe with the lowest hourly rate (and getting access to it) is the constant search.
It is gratifying to see that this problem of U.S. meteorite finds going unclassified, not to mention remaining unreported, is finally getting some attention.
In the meanwhile, I will continue assigning provisional "USA" numbers for classified (but uncataloged) meteorites, as well as, “UU” numbers for all Unclassified U.S. (UU) Ordinary Chondrite (OC) finds that I can personally authenticate.
In order to maximize the time available for submitting these unclassified meteorites for classification, this month’s edition of the “Bulletin” will be kept short.
This month's newsletter will be listing only the recent "classified-but-not-cataloged" USA finds. This is an obvious departure from prior editions, where we listed only "Unclassified U.S. chondrite finds" (UUOC). Although this was the original objective (to get these "orphaned" chondrites classified), this list of unpublished classifications only ADDS the tip of an iceberg of a large number of USA finds still needing to be cataloged, which can only be realized through sustained funding.
*** Note: All of the meteorites mentioned in this month’s article were found by this author. ***
| Field ID Number | USA150808 | |
|---|---|---|
| Newsletter (first described) | Vol. 05 No. 2 | |
| Location | Humbolt County, Nevada, USA | |
| Thin-section ID Number | V-BB01 | |
| Dimensions | 3.5cm x 3.5cm x 1.5cm | |
| Weight (TKW) | 27.5 grams | |
| Type Specimen | 5.5gram endcut - plus thin-section | |
| Class (Petrologic grade) | Ordinary Chondrite (H3-4) | |
| Shock Stage | S3 | |
| Weathering Grade | W3 | |
| Macroscopic Description -- R. Verish | ||
| This 27.5gram stone is an oriented individual with aft-end having a subtle overlipping. Originally, this stone had a discoidal shape, but a fragment is missing, and now it is shield-shaped with a smooth, brownish-black fusion-crusted exterior. Cut surface shows a mottled, light-brown interior. | ||
| Geochemical Description -- D. Shiekh, FSU | ||
| H3-4 -- S3 -- W3 | Olivine, Fa 18.44±0.6 (N=25); orthopyroxene, Fs 17.50±1.2 (N=25), Wo 1.90±0.5 (N=25).. | |
The above "list" is one way I can show how private donors are funding citizen-scientists and other volunteers, in helping reduce the number of meteorites (found here in the USA) from languishing as "unclassified". Hopefully, more attention will be drawn to this problem caused by the lack of official funding, and more donors will come forward and help get these "U.S. orphans" classified and cataloged.
Note: All thin-sections are a 1″-round, double-polished, uncovered glass-slide.
I realize that the above images have already appeared in previous volumes of Bob's Bulletins, but viewing them again (now that we know their classification), it is more educational. Also, it is satisfying to the finders, and especially the donors, who funded the analysis, to see their meteorites classified.
In the meanwhile, I will do my part and continue to solicit donors, so that more thin-sections, such as these, can be made and submitted for classification.
References:
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 5 No. 1 — In my 13th Bulletin, published the “classifications” for meteorite specimens: USA090312, USA000410, USA140527, and USA150802, which have been submitted to the Nomenclature Committee for name approval.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 4 No. 4 — In my 12th Bulletin, published “Provisional Numbers” for meteorite specimens: UU090312, UU000410, UU140527, and UU150802, which were submitted for classification.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 4 No. 3 — In my 11th Bulletin, I published “Provisional Number” UU180513, which is awaiting classification.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 4 No. 2 — In my 10th Bulletin, I published “Provisional Number” UU180122 , which has since been classified and approved as "Willcox Playa 011".
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 4 No. 1 — In my 9th Bulletin, I published a table of six (6) “Provisional (UU) Numbers” (for Unclassified U.S. meteorites) that I assigned to some finds from four (4) separate localities:
*** Note: The above 6 meteorites represent 4 localities. ***
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 3 No. 1 — In my 8th Bulletin, I published a table of sixteen (16) “Provisional (UU) Numbers” (for Unclassified U.S. meteorites) that I assigned to some finds from an existing DCA, but were refused entry into the MBD:
*** Note: All of these meteorites were found from a single locality, an officially designated DCA. ***
In all of my previous Bob’s Bulletins, I prefaced each one with an explanation of what I mean by the phrase “orphaned-meteorites from the USA”. I defined “orphaned” as being meteorite “finds” that are recovered in the U.S., but are not being recorded. Contrary to what you may think, these meteorites are being reported, but the finders of these meteorites have encountered resistance in getting provisional numbers assigned to their finds, even when the (obvious) meteorites were recovered from officially designated “Dense Collection Areas” (DCA). These meteorites are being ignored. This is in addition to the current practice by the official classifiers of meteorites to refuse to classify Ordinary Chondrites (OC). Without an “official” classification, meteorites cannot get an officially-approved name by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society, and hence, cannot be cataloged. And hence, uncatalogued meteorites are “orphaned”.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of new U.S. finds are destined to remain orphans.
In my preface I would go on to explain that these “Unclassified U.S. finds” (UU) were being orphaned from the family of “approved” meteorites for the following reasons:
1) The lack of funding for U.S. researchers to authenticate, classify, and document/record these U.S. OC finds has resulted in several new [negative] trends, all which discourage finders from reporting their finds.
2) The increasing trend of commercializing the classification of meteorites by U.S. researchers has priced U.S. OC finds out of the market, and
3) The increasing trend of U.S. researchers to turn away OC finds, even when finders of U.S. OC meteorites are willing to pay for their classification.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 2 No. 3 — In my 7th Bulletin, I published a table of six (6) “Provisional (UU)
Numbers” (for Unclassified U.S. meteorites) that I assigned to some recent finds:
*** Note: All of these meteorites were found by one person (not this author) – all in one day. ***
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 2 No. 2 — In my 6th Bulletin, I published a table of the increasing number of unclassified U.S. meteorite finds and petitioned that crowd-sourced funding be used for volunteers to compile and record these finds for later classification and official-approval, until such time that this function can be properly funded with U.S tax-dollars.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 2 No. 1 — In my 5th Bulletin, I published a table of all the unclassified finds from Coyote Dry Lake DCA that were reported prior to 2007.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 4 — In my 4th Bulletin, I reported that several U.S. researchers were volunteering their time and effort to record and publish meteorite falls and finds, such as, Creston and Misfits Flat. I suggested that this method of cataloging newly found US meteorite specimens could be expanded, but the main hindrance is that there is no funding for this kind of effort.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 3 — In my 3rd Bulletin, I proposed the idea of an on-line database for these “orphaned” and other unclassified U.S. meteorites. This would have to be an all-volunteer effort, much in the same manner that the American Meteor Society has established the Fireball Reporting System. This database would give finders a central point to report their finds and have a field ID number issued to them. This “Field ID” would reflect which US state and date of find. The function of this database should not be confused with already established processes of getting a meteorite “classified”, which is obviously way more labor intensive and costly.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 2 — In my 2nd Bulletin, I went into more detail about why I use the phrase “orphaned-meteorites from the USA”. I focused on the lack of U.S.-tax-dollar-funding and why no funding was going towards the classification of these particular meteorites. In hindsight, I now realize that I should have pointed-out that there is also a lack of funding for just authenticating and recording that a U.S. meteorite has been found. This function should never be confused with “classifying” a meteorite, which is obviously way more labor intensive and costly.
Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 1 — In my first Bulletin, I introduced the phrase “orphaned-meteorites from the USA”. I defined these “orphans” as being unwitnessed-fall Ordinary Chondrite (OC) meteorite “finds” that are recovered in the U.S. Unfortunately, the vast majority of U.S. finds are of this type. I went on to write that these U.S. finds were being orphaned from the family of “approved” meteorites for the following reasons:
1) The lack of funding for U.S. researchers to authenticate, classify, and document/record these U.S. OC finds has resulted in several new [negative]; trends.
2) The increasing trend of commercializing the classifying of meteorites by U.S. researchers has priced U.S. OC finds out of the market, and
3) The increasing trend of U.S. researchers to turn away OC finds, even when finders of U.S. OC meteorites are willing to pay for their classification.
Meteoritical Bulletin: the search results for all provisional meteorites found in “USA” – Published by Meteoritical Society – Meteoritical Bulletin, Database.
If you “Click” on the header titled “Assigned On”, it will change the table to chronological order by date of assignment, and it will show that – SINCE 2014 – there have been no new Provisional Numbers assigned to a find made in the United States!
Meteorites of California the list of formally-recognized California meteorite falls and finds.
My previous Bob’s Bulletins can be found *HERE*
If you would like to sponsor any of these orphans, and help in getting them classified, in order to get them entered into the Meteoritical Bulletin Database, then please contact me by email:
