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Re: 1400Ma old meteorite layer?

> >
> >----------
> 
> I remember reading in Nininger's published papers something about
> checking rain gutters.  He was able to identify quite a bit of
> meteoric material in the dust.
> 
> Steve Schoner

Steve and all,


Yes, I recall reading that in Nininger's FIND A FALLING STAR, and also
recall his account of how he attempted to catch more pristine
atmospheric dust aboard a ship, only the students he'd brought along
with him played a practical joke on him and loaded his ship's
raingutters with iron filings...something like that!  Boy, wasn't that
an inspiring and also a very humbling autobiographical account.  Respect
was something really hard to earn!

It wasn't my idea to plagarize his idea; it was instead to recall how
common an occurrence meteoritic materials must be, only if we looked for
them...  I was reacting to the effort to study the 1.4 billion year old
Finnish Koeylioe layer for micrometeorite fossils.  

I should suppose that that effort must have been akin to the effort made
to identify micrometeorites and ablation particles, nanotektites in the
KT boundary and that perhaps 1.4 billion years ago there was a large
meteoritic event...but studying a small vial of acid-dissolved limestone 
Devonian sedimentary layer resulted in a yield of several spherules!  

If the prevalence of meteoritic spherules is that high in similar
representative sedimentary stones, then it'd be difficult to ascribe
much special significance to the Koeylioe layer, except to exclaim how
relatively unaltered metamorphically that 1.4 billion year old stone
must be to find meteoritic spherules...

Incidentally, Martin Horejsi made an excellent point in stating how
altered the conodont sand specimen was that I was looking at...I could
identify clumps of what looked like white calcite crystals with very
emerald-green diopsite-type crystals and odd twisted shapes of
green-grey patina'd forms, almost like weathered native copper.  Also I
saw some breath-takingly beautiful clumps of what appeared to be
crystalline chalcopyrite, only gleaming with colors like peacock ore.

I had once long (long!) ago told Bob Haag that I would try to avoid the
temptation to start a "gravel" collection of meteorite types, if only
because I couldn't appreciate such a winsome collection with much
emotional attachment.  Then came my Chassigney, then my winonites, my
Lafayette, the DAG 262, etc., all at least 0.20 grams.  Hey, at least a
carat!!  Now, I'm finally reduced to these beautiful dust molts! I'd
really better not sneeze.

Maybe I should try to get some microprobe work done on the spherules,
maybe even submit these "finds" for considerations...  or have them sold
by a starving dealer on commissions as main masses or unknowns... 
..Nah.

Now, where's my Allegra or Claritin?? 

Joseph.

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