14 replies to this topic

[GeoJack]

Would really like to find one of these.

[homefire]

Looks like Cinder Ash to me! LOL

How can they be so certain it came from Mars?

[Dakota Slim]

How can they be so certain it came from Mars?

That's what I'd like to know. Is Al Gore in on this?

[Bedrock Bob]

In the article it sayed they knew by the chemical composition of the rock and the gasses trapped inside. I suspect that is a darn lie because everyone knows Mars is made of Snickers. The peanuts and chewy nougat gave away the specimen's origin and they blew the money that they were given to actually do the tests on hookers and cheap liquor. After a few weeks of "research" they sobered up, shaved, flew back from Las Vegas and published a few pages of "findings".

A Martian specimen will always contain peanuts and chewy caramel. No other rock has that delicious combination of confections and it does not take a scientist with a GC/MS machine to identify them.

[fredmason]

That is true,Bob...but the fusion crust is hard to get with the usual package...requires an entry speed of several thousand K and extreme altitude...
special delivery too.

fred

[Johnno]

http://www.meteoris.de/mars/list.html

BB they fouhd water on Mars

[Goldfinger]

Johnno- I'd like to find one too. My question is - who found it. Bedouins or professionals? Doesn't seem to be much info on this.

Steve

[Johnno]

Discovery of a Martian meteorite that fell to Earth this past summer
Like a racing car plummeting from space, a meteorite that was observed
in the middle of the day has been identified as coming from the planet
Mars. Alerted in mid December by the discovery of the meteorites
between Morocco and Algeria, Luc Labenne, a hunter of meteorites,
examined the rocks and recognized them to be a Shergottite, the most
common type of rock torn off the surface of Mars by powerful impacts.

A Martian meteorite discovery
Luc Labenne recovered the first samples of the meteorite after being
guided by local Saharans who observed the arrival of the powerful
bolide, heralding the arrival of the Martian on July 25th. He then had
two small samples of approximately two grams sent Brigitte Zanda and
Violaine Sauter, of the Museum of Natural history for analysis. "What
is obvious right now is that the crust that surrounds the meteorite is
intact, a sign that its fall was very recent. The crust on this
meteorites is very fragile and in the sand driven winds of the desert,
the crust would have deteriorated, even after only a few months."

Conformation of Martian origin
Through contact with an American specialist researcher in meteorites,
Luc Labenne has confirmed that the fragments are indeed of Martian
origin. The researcher has already obtained samples and had them
confirmed by analysis as authentic.

A unique chance for science
As the Martian origin has been confirmed, this constitutes an
exceptional opportunity for science, just as the Paris meteorite
discovered in 2010 did. Indeed, Since this meteorite has avoided the
ravages of time and contamination, it offers an opportunity to search
for the possible remnants of Martian organisms, just as the Martian
meteorite ALH 84001 did in 1996, only unlike this new meteorite, it
had sat on the surface of the Earth for 13000 years

[Johnno]

Tissint 29°28.917’N, 7°36.674’W
Tata, Morocco
Fell: 18 July 2011
Classification: Martian meteorite (Shergottite)
History: (H. Chennaoui Aoudjehane, FSAC, and A. Aaronson) At about 2 am local time on July 18, 2011, a bright fireball was observed by several people in the region of the Oued Drâa valley, east of Tata, Morocco. One eyewitness, Mr Aznid Lhou, reported that it was at first yellow in color, and then turned green illuminating all the area before it appeared to split into two parts. Two sonic booms were heard over the valley. In October 2011, nomads began to find very fresh, fusion-crusted stones in a remote area of the Oued Drâa intermittent watershed, centered about 50 km ESE of Tata and 48 km SSW of Tissint village, in the vicinity of the Oued El Gsaïb drainage and also near El Ga’ïdat plateau known as Hmadat Boû Rba’ ine. The largest stones were recovered in the El Ga’ïdat plateau, whereas the smallest one (a few grams) closer to the El Aglâb Mountains. One 47 g crusted stone was documented as being found at 29°28.917’ N, 7°36.674’ W.
Physical characteristics: Several fusion-crusted stones have been collected ranging from 1 to 987 g, with a total weight of around 7 kg. The stones are almost completely coated by glistening black fusion crust, characterized by thicker layers on exterior ridges as well as much glossier regions (above interior olivine macrocrysts). Some stones have thinner secondary fusion crust on some surfaces. The crust on some stones has been broken in places to reveal the interior, which appears overall pale gray in color with larger, very pale yellow olivine macrocrysts, and sporadic small pockets and some very thin veinlets of black glass. No terrestrial weathering is evident.
Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS): Olivine macrocrysts (to 1.5 mm) and microphenocrysts (to 0.4 mm) are set in a finer groundmass of patchily zoned pyroxene, plagioclase (maskelynite), Ti-poor chromite, ilmenite, pyrrhotite and minor merrillite. Both the larger olivine macrocrysts and smaller olivine microphenocrysts exhibit thin ferroan rims against the groundmass, and contain tiny chromite inclusions. Narrow ferroan zones also occur within the interior of some olivine macrocrysts.
Geochemistry: Olivine (cores of large macrocrysts Fa_19.4-20.2, Fe/Mn=42-44; rims Fa_43.2-60.4, Fe/Mn=50-55), cores of microphenocrysts Fa_29.1-30.2, Fe/Mn=45-46; rims up to Fa_53.3, Fe/Mn=53), orthopyroxene cores (Fs_24.0-24.4Wo_4.1-4.6, Fe/Mn=30-32), pigeonite (Fs_26.1-51.6Wo_11.9-16.9, Fe/Mn=31-35), subcalcic augite (Fs_21.7-23.3Wo_25.0-24.2, Fe/Mn=26-28), plagioclase (An_61.1-64.3Or_0.5-0.4). Oxygen isotopes (R. Tanaka, OkaU): analyses of acid-washed subsamples by laser fluorination gave, respectively δ¹⁷O = 2.849, 2.892; δ¹⁸O = 4.844, 4.943; Δ¹⁷O = 0.299, 0.290 per mil. Bulk composition (G. Chen and C. Herd, UAb) ICPMS analysis of powdered interior material gave Sm/Nd=0.646, indicating that this specimen has affinities with the depleted compositional group of shergottites.
Classification: Achondrite (Martian, olivine-phyric shergottite).
Specimens: A total of 30.3 g of type material and one polished thin section are on deposit at UWS. Other known institutional specimens include 370 g (ASU), 58 g (UAb), and 108 g (UNM). The remaining material is held by anonymous dealers and collectors.
METSOC

[Goldfinger]

Johnno-

Is it true this is selling for $11,000 to $12,000 a gram? If so, I wonder how much value it will lose in the coming months. Seems like the prices always come down quite a bit after awhile.

Steve

[Mikestang]

The first for sale sites I saw had it closer to $500/g.

[homefire]

Maybe I should start selling some Cinder Stone!

Looks the same.

Has C02, Sulfiric gas, all in the bubbles.

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[Goldfinger]

The first for sale sites I saw had it closer to $500/g.

You're probably right and I just misread the article. $500 a gram would be $15,000 an ounce.. That's what happens when you start getting senile.

Steve

[Johnno]

Yes Mike is right what I have seen $300/$500 a gram
NPR's 'Science Friday' with Chris Herd of the University of Alberta
talking about the Tissint meteorite

Cheers Johnno

[Johnno]

Here's a video on our new immigrant on Earth. I would have translated it for you, but I wanted you to get the feeling of really being there.