Hi list, Naming meteorites after their fall/find location seems to be working well. If a new find is made in the location under most circumstances, it is accepted as being paired to the previously found material. It is quite different with the numbers assigned to NWA finds.
The total NWA numbers have come to represent not the separate find locations and thus the different material types but rather, some where between the total finds and the number of stones collected. NWA 2965/2828/4295 and at least ten more numbers is a good example. No one knows what is paired with what any more and to make maters worse, some dealers look at the assigned NWA number as their private property. If they get let's say 25 kilo out of a 250 kilo find and have their pile classified, there is resistance to accepting the other material of the find is even the same. "You go get your own number and promote it your self" is the line all secondary persons are meet with. It is my understanding that the assignment of NWA numbers was not developed to protect individual dealers exclusionary ownership rights. There is not an adequate system for correction of information on NWA finds. If I were to have material, seemingly paired to an existing NWA number, let's say it's distinctive in some way and wanted the weight included under the already existing number. Labs refuse to retest what is likely just a pairing. To pair a meteorite by the original classification lab is not as involved as a new classification. If a lab performed the initial classification, it should come with an obligation to acknowledge or discount pairing questions. This would go a long way to help clean up the great NWA stone count. Tom Phillips ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
