[meteorite-list] Re: (Ron Baalke) Fossil find...

From: Marcia Swanson <MJSOfArc_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:17 2004
Message-ID: <952-3EB078F2-1132_at_storefull-2152.public.lawson.webtv.net>

Hi List,
I found this article very interesting and circumstances for me, were
also reminiscent of what I ran into when I sent the specimen to Steve
Schoner to identify, as a meteorite, and it turned out to be an "erattic
". Local legend had it, that this was a Meteorite that was found in our
County in the early 1900's. I did tons and tons of research and even
though it was magnetic, contained nickel and iron, seemed to have a
crust, and needle, prismlike crystals,plus other metals, which I knew
were not indigenous to this area, (could see better after tumbling)
which I had no way of identifying. Wanting to get it authenticated as a
meteorite , which is what I truly believed it to be. Steve was nice
enough to get right back to me after I sent in specimen, and explained
that due to it's size, ect, it was a Glacial Boulder that had been
deposited here from hundreds of miles away, from the North.
Did more research and found that Wisconsin, where I am from, in what is
called the "eastern low-land segment of Wisconsin", is known for it's
period in the "Ice Age, somewhere between Pleistocene (most recent
cycle, 24,000 to 10,000 years ago, and the Holocene, in southeast Wi.,
thats me, (10,000 (or 12,000 years ago) called the "Wisconsinan
Glaciation."
Before Ice Age, Wisconsin was mountainous and had volcano's and tropical
coral reefs. Which is probably why as Glacier melt carved out our "Great
Lakes', we were left with so many fossils. I guess the trilobite,
Mastodon, and more recently Kenosha's "Wooly Mammoth" find, are what we
are most known for. Diamonds have been found in these boulders, in
Burlington,my county, and next city north, Racine county. The largest of
these weighed 15-12/32 carats! Their source is unknown, but is supposed
to be somewhere in Canada.If anyones inerested I can give you the
web-site addresses to verify my comments.
Always wondered if the Alberta Asteroid hit and others may have been
some of the erratics that are scaterred all over Wisconsin? At certain
periods we were mostly under water.
It also doesn't help that in the Upper Peninsula and in Northeren
Wisconsin, there was, in the last 100+ years, alot of Iron Ore mining
done. Which is why, where I'm at, it would be almost impossible to
identify an old meteorite or asteroid "find". I would have to actually
"SEE" it fall from the skys, to be able to be sure I could get it
authenticated. Too much Past geological and glacial circumstances
involved.
I didn't know this till after, Steve was good enough to identify what I
thought was my "Meteorite, as an erratic. Hope I didn't bore you all to
tears, it's just an example of how easily a person can get what looks
like a meteorite, down to the smooth thumb-nailng surface, and if you
don't know a bit about the history of the area, it can turn out to be
something totally different. Steve Schoner knew as soon as he saw my
specimen and pic.s I sent in. Looks like I'll have to watch the sky,
here,or travel elsewhere to find meteorites , though I know they must
have fallen here throughout time. End of long story. Thanks, Marcie
Received on Wed 30 Apr 2003 09:31:30 PM PDT