[meteorite-list] report Munich show and AD

[Dr. Svend Buhl]

thanks Phillipe,

I have also added a comparison picture of Chergach ("Mali") and Bassikounou:

http://www.niger-meteorite-recon.de/en/meteoriten_verkauf.htm

Svend


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Philippe Thomas" <thomasmeteorites at wanadoo.fr>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: <info at niger-meteorite-recon.de>
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] report Munich show and AD



> Hello Svend and all,

>

> I put on-line on my site some photos which illustrates your comments as 

> regards the description of the meteorite fallen in the erg Chech.

>

> Best wishes,

> Philippe Thomas

> http://www.meteoritica.com/

>

>

> As Greg has already pointed out on the list earlier the Chergach/Erg Chech 

> or "Mali" material as it has been dubbed by sellers can be clearly 

> distinguished from e.g. Benguerir, Amgala,

> Bensour and Bassikounou by comparing broken or cut surfaces.

>

> "Mali" has a dark ash grey color with meandering unevenly distributed 

> blueish areas that often enclose dark grey patches, "Mali" is brecciated 

> and diplays clasts full of very small but

> distinct chondrules. "Mali" shows no black shock veining as for example in 

> Bassikounou. Unless the Bassikounou fall did not drop a second hitherto 

> unknown lithology these two are

> clearly separate events. I will later post some comparison pictures on my 

> website.

>

> With completely crusted individuals separation is difficult. The genuine 

> "Mali" material I have seen however did not show any soil staining and was 

> completely lacking the red laterite dust

> that can be found on many of the Bassikounou specimens. Differention by 

> the grade of wheathering is not possible. Both falls are to recent for 

> that.

>

> As to your question, I have the impression that the new material can 

> safely be ordered from several resellers in Morocco. Upon request I can 

> recommend a number uf reliable sources in

> Morocco to you.

> All my Chergach ("Mali") material I have purchased directly from Morocco 

> was genuine material from a different event then the ones mentioned above. 

> In Munich I purchased a 125gm

> oriented fragment among some genuine "Mali" stones and that particular 

> specimen by close inspection turned out to be a Bassikounou. The same 

> seller also offered me a another piece

> as "Mali" that I had already described in the Bassikounou catalog and that 

> could clearly be recognized by its bright red impact marks.

>

> On the other hand this same seller had a number of splendid regmaglypted 

> individuals in the kg range on his table that could easily and without 

> doubt be recognized as from the

> Chergach strewfield by examining the broken surfaces.

>

> The cause of the confusion in my opinion has to do with the complete lack 

> of confirmed intelligence on the "Mali" event. The makeshift name "Mali" 

> already indicates the misery that

> neither an exact date nor exact coordinates were available for this fall 

> in the beginning when the distribution started. The information provided 

> by A. Habibi that the distribution ellipse

> is located near Chergach in the Erg Chech did not yet make it to most of 

> the sellers offering the new material in Munich. At least on request they 

> could not tell you anything about the

> origin of their "Mali" material.

>

> I'll post any emerging insights on this on my page and I encourage 

> everyone to share their knowledge as well, as it would be a great loss if 

> the background of this beautiful meteorite

> remains a mystery.

>

> Svend

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