I don't think there's a difference between any of these meteorites in
terms of what we should call them. We just don't have consistent
terminology in place. Ibitira, NWA 011, and, it appears, Bunburra
Rockhole are all basaltic achondrites that seem to come from a separate
parent body than other basaltic achondrites. In my opinion, none of
these should be called a eucrite, just as we don't call angrites
eucrites. I would prefer to call them ungrouped basaltic achondrites.
If I had a peer-reviewed reference that handled the nomenclature well,
I'd change the recommended classifications in the MetBull database.
Jeff
Jason Utas wrote:
Well, oxygen isotopes are one thing, but orbital data would seem to be
a strange way to classify a meteorite to me; given the past four and a
half billion years of collisions, things have been far too 'messed up'
in the inner solar system for that to mean much; we have comets
present in stable orbits here in the innrer solar system, and it
doesn't mean that they formed there.
And most would also make a clear definition between chemical and
isotopic data, which he confuses (or the reference was a misquote) in
the article.
After all, Ibitira's a "Eucrite," but NWA 011's an ungrouped
achondrite. It's the chemical difference that seems to make the
difference in nomenclature.
Jason
On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 5:47 PM, Michael Fowler <mqfow...@mac.com> wrote:
Additional information from a Scientific American link that says that the
meteorite is not from Vesta, because the orbit is wrong, and the oxygen
isotopes are different.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=recovered-meteorite-points-to-an-un-2009-09-17
Mike Fowler
Chicago
And I think it might be interesting to note this article, where Dr.
Philip Bland can be quoted as stating that Eucrites are not, in fact,
from Vesta.
Go figure.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/6075299/rare-meteorite-found-in-outback/
Regards,
Jason
Jason,
You were a little bit hasty or misleading in your summarizing of Dr
Bland.
see quote below from the article you cited. (and to think that we are
always criticizing reporters for getting it wrong!)
Mike Fowler
Chicago
""Dr Bland says most basalt meteorites, like the one found in the
Nullarbor, originate from a large asteroid called Vesta but the
Bunburra Rockhole meteorite is different.
"Our little guy can't be from Vesta, the composition is all wrong," he
said.""
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