In celebration of the publication release of Michael Blood’s new book titled Aspects of Meteorite Orientation I thought I would share a couple oriented specimens I picked up in Tucson years ago. They were part of a set of Juancheng individuals that were collected by school children and later sold as a fundraiser for the school. I sold all of the pieces with documentation as what I called “Bakesale Juancheng” specimens since they were collected specifically to be resold in Tucson by a Chinese mineral dealer who would carry back the money to the school after the show.
According to the Meteoritical Bulletin…
Juancheng
Shandong Province, China
Fell 1997 February 15, 23:23:35 Beijing time (15:23:35 UT)
Ordinary chondrite (H5)
A shower of small stones (>1000 individuals) fell near the Yellow River after a brilliant fireball with smoke and sparks terminated in a loud, resonating explosion. The fall ellipse measured ~10.5 ´ 4.3 km, oriented east-west. The largest recovered piece weighed 2.7 kg, and the total mass is >100 kg. One fragment was reported to have penetrated a roof and landed in a pot on a stove. This meteorite has been widely traded and sold under the unofficial name Heze. Classification and mineralogy (Chen Yonghen and Wang Daode, GIG; Wang Ruitian, HBS; A. Rubin, UCLA;): olivine, Fa19.0–19.2; pyroxene, Fs16.9Wo0.1; plagioclase heterogeneous, An9–33Ab63–84Or3–12; kamacite contains 0.36–0.47 wt% Co; shock stage S2. Specimens: 35 kg, DPitt; ~1 kg, ZMAO; ~1 kg, BeiAP.
These two oriented specimens are little gems that forever hold the impressive features of hypersonically carved rock that only atmospheric reentry creates. From the tip of the leading face, to the vacuum-formed underbelly, these Juanching jewels are not only collectable meteorites, but also pleasant memories of meteorite adventures.





…Until next time…next year ( ; – }