Jason, list,
Maybe I don't quite understand... ;) The size of an individual meteorite
whether ungrouped or even a previously unknown type or new
classification would not be the deciding factor in determining rarity at
all would it?
If of course you consider the major factor concerning rarity to be the
number of stones or TKW, and you don't slice or break up the specimen,
then a 1 ton stone could of course be the rarest type in existence if it
were in fact of some previously unknown or ungrouped type right? The
same could be said if no one had access to that 1 ton specimen.
Technically speaking distribution and access to material is also a
determining factor of the rarity of a meteorite. The term "rarest
meteorite" does not quite depend on type or class alone.
So yes I would agree that you're right, if type were the only factor
involved, then your 1-2g specimen of an ungrouped type it would be the
rarest meteorite.
But consider the Willamette meteorite, or the Old Woman meteorite. They
are both irons, and of a common class, but the distribution of that
particular material in private and university collections makes it rare
doesn't it?
Obviously I'm splitting hairs... Maybe it's more about the meaning of
the phrase "the rarest meteorite" than the actual rarity of the
meteorite type class.
Regards,
Eric Wichman
Meteorites USA
Jason Utas wrote:
Hello Sonny, All,
I've often thought about such a term - "the rarest meteorite."
The rarest meteorite would of course be smallest ungrouped meteorite,
for one could feasibly conceive of a 1-2g unique meteorite. When a
new type is named, however, a hype generally surrounds it - rather
like the olivine diogenite craze of a few years ago, or the confusion
surrounding Bencubbinites, and other poorly defined types of
meteorites.
The simple fact of the matter is that there meteorites are too often
categorized by our current system into associations and groups into
which they fit rather poorly; Jeff Grossman states as much in the last
thread surrounding the poor chemical and isotopic relationships
between many basaltic meteorites deemed "eucrites."
But regardless of this fact, a simple truth remains. There are
countless ungrouped meteorites and several Kakangari-type meteorites,
so while they may be one of the least common "types," they are by no
means examples of the "rarest" meteorite known.
Regards,
Jason
On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 6:12 PM, <wahlpe...@aol.com> wrote:
Hi Bernd and list,
Would this be one of the rarest meteorites ever found? If not, what
meteorite would be?
Thanks,
Sonny
-----Original Message-----
From: bernd.pa...@paulinet.de
To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 1:12 pm
Subject: [meteorite-list] Photo of a K-chondrite
Hi Greg and List,
Hardly any photos of Kakangaris exist. You'll find one on David
Weir's excellent website: http://www.meteoritestudies.com/
Click on chondrites and then scroll down to Kakangari!
Thin section pics of Kakangari can be found here (on pages 202-205):
D.S. LAURETTA, M. KILLGORE (2005) A Color Atlas of Meteorites in Thin
Section
(Golden Retriever Publications and Southwest Meteorite Press, ISBN
0-9720472-1-2, 301 pp.).
Best wishes,
Bernd
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