THE GOLD BASIN AREA METEORITES

- THIS WEBPAGE HAS UNDERGONE MAJOR REVISION -
- TO SEE A WEBPAGE THAT RECAPS THE LATEST FINDINGS , "click" HERE -


The revisions to this webpage were the result of the findings from a study that was presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI (2005) Meeting (LPSC 2005). This poster presentation was titled:

"ATMOSPHERIC FRAGMENTATION OF THE GOLD BASIN METEOROID AS CONSTRAINED FROM COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES"
by Kees Welten, D. J. Hillegonds, A. J. T. Jull and David A. Kring

and this is the link to that abstract:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2005/pdf/2352.pdf

Among other things, this abstract concluded that:

"The radionuclide results from fifteen (15) new
L-chondrite specimens from the Gold Basin Area
indicate that all samples are part of the same shower,
which should be reclassified as an L4-6 chondrite breccia."

What this means is that many of the Gold Basin Area meteorites that were classified as L6 or L5, are considered to be from the same fall as the Gold Basin (L4) meteorite. This includes many of the L-chondrites that the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society provisiosnally named as "Hualapai Wash". Specifically, the three Hualapai Wash specimens that I donated to the researchers of that study (HW 002, HW 010, HW 013) are now to be renamed and considered as being from the "Gold Basin (L4-6)" shower. 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.



Click "HERE" for a link back to - my 2008 article titled "Recap of recent findings about the Gold Basin (L4-6) strewn field"

Click "HERE" for more detailed information - my 2005 article titled "Reclassification: Gold Basin shown to be L4-6"

Click "HERE" for many GB meteorite images - my 2002 article titled "another article about "Gold Basin AREA" Meteorites"

Click "HERE" for one of my earliest papers on GB Area meteorites - my 2001 abstract titled "Gold Basin: Overlapping Strewn Fields or Heterogeneous Meteoroid?"

Click "HERE" for latest paper (which answers the above question) - K. Welten's 2005 abstract titled "ATMOSPHERIC FRAGMENTATION OF THE GOLD BASIN METEOROID AS CONSTRAINED FROM COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES"


Classified originally as an "L4" chondrite in 1995, these chondritic stones that come from the Gold Basin strewn field are well represented in collections all over the world.recognized. Since then, AT LEAST 30 OTHER meteorite stones, that have been found NEAR OR WITHIN this strewn field, have been CLASSIFIED.
As many as 10 of these are considered as "unpaired", or, if you will, as being "overlapping" with the Gold Basin strewn field!

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. 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.

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 - [indistinguishable from Gold Basin]
35º53.4'N, 114º12.2'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 1997 January 05
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) - [ v "Gold Basin (L4-6)"]
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.

Bluebird - Ordinary chondrite (L6 S4 W2) -
35º52.05'N, 114º 11.5'W - Mohave County, Arizona, USA - Found 2002 January 15
A 3.65 kg stone was found by John Wolfe while he was searching for meteorites with a metal detector. Classification and mineralogy (A. Rubin, UCLA): olivine, Fa24.5; shock stage, S4; weathering grade, W2; Specimens: type specimen, 26.4 g plus thin sections, UCLA; main mass with Verish.

MORE under-construction.gif (8 kbytes) TO COME


- TO SEE THE ORIGINAL "GB-ALL" WEBPAGE BEFORE IT WAS REVISED, "click" HERE -

EMAILemail.gif (8 kbytes)

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

recovery.gif (80 kbytes)

HOME

08/08/08