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Re: Mars again (and Lafayette)



>
>
>
>>
>>STEVEN R. SCHONER schrieb:
>>
>>> You forgot Lafayette -- 1931 or thereabouts.
>>
>>No, Steve, I didn't. Lafayette was a find and known before 1931:
>>
>>A mass of about 800g was noticed by O.C. Farrington in 1931 in the
>>geological collections in Purdue Univ., Lafayette. Description,
>>H.H.Nininger, Pop. Astron., Northfield, Minnesota, 1935, 43, p.404 (M.A.
>>6-207), B. Mason, Meteorites, Wiley, 1962, p.232. The stone is very
>>fresh and similar to Nakhla; it may be part of that fall. K-Ar age, 1600
>>my., F.A. Podosek and J.C. Huneke, GCA, 1973, 37, p.667. Distinct from
>>Nakhla and Governador Valadares, J.L. Berkley et al., GCA, 1980, (Suppl.
>>14), p.1089.
>>
>>
>
>I have somewhere seen a anectodal story about Lafayette where the 
>stone was supposedly picked up by a black man fishing near a stream.
>
>I remember, many years ago, I asked Harvey Nininger about this, and 
>he had heard it, too.  I also remember him telling me that the black
>man had said that he had seen it fall, and that it was shaped like a 
>"cornpone"-- a certain kind of corn cake.  The year of its fall was
>not certain in this story, but thought to be several years prior to
>1931.
>
>
>Unfortunately, the origin of this story is not known.  But I
>distinctly remember reading it somewhere, and later talking to
>Nininger about it shortly after I acquired my .86 gram fusion crusted
>fragment of this very interesting meteorite.
>
>BTW-- Lafayette has distinct brown spots (hydrated clays) that in my
>opinion make it visually different from Nakhla, a point that is 
>supported in the above mentioned research.
>
>I will see if I can find this story again, and if so I will make it
>a point to present it in its entirety here.
>
>
>Steve Schoner
>AMS
>  


And here it is...




          _The_Published_ Papers_Of_H. H. Nininger_

          P.P 247-251.


          "The Lafayette Meteorite"


               Nothing is known regarding the time at which this
          remarkable meteorite fell, but its fresh appearance renders
          it practically certain that it had not lain on the earth for
          a very long time before it was picked up and protected
          against abuses of a mechanical nature.   The story is told
          that a colored student of Purdue University reported that a
          number of years ago while fishing at the edge of a little
          lake he was frightened by the falling of a stone at a
          distance of only a few feet from him.  This stone he later
          dug from the soft mud and found it to be "shaped just like a
          corn pone" and of about the same size.  For a time he
          preserved the stone.  It was thought that he had brought it
          to the University, but these reports have not been
          substantiated for the reason that the person could not be
          located.

              Whatever its history the meteorite was first recognized
          by Dr. O. C. Farrington while classifying stone mineral and
          rocks for the department of geology in Purdue University in
          1931.  Up until that time the stone had been regarded as a
          glacial boulder or pebble and the surface markings were
          thought to have been scratched due to its glacial origin.

              To a student of meteorites the Lafayette stone at once
          becomes a very impressive example of the results of an
          oriented flight through the atmosphere.  So far as I know to
          the writer no meteorite records such a flight more perfectly
          or more graphically...


          Nininger goes on to describe the Lafayete meteorite's
          shape in great detail.  He ends with:


             "Because the location of the fall is not known it shall
          be known as the Lafayette meteorite which is the name of the
          city in which Purdue University is located.

              The principal mass of the stone (about 600 grams) is
          preserved in the Geological Collection of Purdue University.
          Complete sections are also included in the Collections of
          the Field Museum and the writer."

                                  -------

          My .86 gram Lafayette sample was obtained from the Chicago 
          Field Museum's curator of meteorites Dr. Olsen, by Gordon 
          Nelson (the discoverer of the Correo, NM, meteorite).  I 
          later acquired it when I purchased the majority of Mr. 
          Nelson's collection.

          I remember speaking at length with Dr. Nininger about the
          Lafayette meteorite to garner more information about my new
          acquisition.  And I remembered having read the story of the 
          fall and wanted more details on it.  It was Nininger's 
          belief that the story was in its essential elements true.  
          Even though he had gotten the details second hand they rang 
          with certain elements of meteorite fall that could only be 
          derived by direct experience.  Though he made no mention of 
          it in his published account, he told me that in the story 
          he had heard that the black student reported a "swishing 
          sound in the air, then a thud on the ground, not far from 
          where he was standing."  Nininger also told me that in the 
          stories he heard that the stone had penetrated the ground 
          to a depth of several inches, and that the student reported 
          that it was "warm, but not hot" when he held it after 
          digging it up.  I asked Nininger if he followed up on the 
          stories and who were the ones that told it.  He told me 
          that the stories came from fellow students who remembered 
          him, and the story he told.  Maybe some faculty as well.  
          Nininger said that he made attempts to find this student, 
          but failed because apparently the man never graduated, 
          and his whereabouts after he left Purdue was never 
          discovered.

          I wonder if a rouster of black students was ever kept at
          Perdue?  Something to look into.

              Certain is the fact that Lafayette is distinct from
          Nakhla, and its near perfect orientation indicates a
          singular fall, that is only one fell.

              Circumstantially, the story of the black student, and
          his second hand report of the fall and recovery of this
          amazing meteorite rings with truth.

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