[meteorite-list] NP Article, 07-1932 Meteor Crater Drilling
From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:35 2004 Message-ID: <BAY4-DAV116SWoBDyse0000021c_at_hotmail.com> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0057_01C3118B.E15D4BA0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Title: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune=20 City: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin=20 Date: Saturday, July 09, 1932 Down to the Bottom of THE BIGGEST SHELL HOLE On Earth After 30 years of drilling in Arizona's famous Meteor crater, engineers = have located the main body of the comet that buried itself in the earth = 400 centuries ago and made a hole nearly a mile wide. By Oren Arnold THEY'RE a little bit later about it - 40,000 years late - but it's = nevertheless true that a group of people out in Arizona have just = discovered the projectile that made the world's largest shell hole. Police will not be officially notified. An X to mark the spot = where the body lay will not even be necessary, for the body is still = there! And the wound is so big that people build houses and live right = down in the middle of it. It's quite a story, with even a hint of = celestial scandal included! In any consideration of this big shell, or bullet, or whatever it = is called, the very first thing to do is to be deroutly thankful that it = didn't waot a while a hit a big city. Any yet - one just like it may = some day do that very thing! This one arrived 400 centuries or so ago, true enough, but a = silumar one also fell as recently as 1908. And you won't have to write = home about it, if you happen to be within 500 mies of where such a = projectile strikes. Because likely you won't have a home any more, and = there won't be any you! If Arizona's shot from the sun should be duplicated today and hit = on Manhatten Island, 10 million lives would be lost in an instant. You'll have a hard time believing all the truths about this = gargantuan bullet and its hole. Its size, for example. Can you imagine = a bullet, made of 90 per cent iron, as big as the Capitol Building at = Washington with a couple of courthouses thrown in? THIS one is. It's called the Barringer Meteorite, and hole is = called Meteor "Mountain". The crater is a gigantic pockmark on the face = of a barren plain in northern Arizona, between the towns of Flagstaff = and Winslow. In 1871 some army scouts found the big hole and made an official = report of it. For 30 years men have been studying and drilling into the crater = trying to locate the bullet itself. And the currant big news is that = the bullet is found. There it is, 500 to 1300 feet down in the wound it made, a big mass = of gnarles, rugged iron weighing no one knows how many million pounds! = Now, who wants the contract for hauling it around to exhibit the county = fairs? "It may be big, but it isn't entirely a white elephant," says = George M. Colvocoresses, technical head of the mining company exploring = the crater. "An old spent bullet or iron like that might seen at first thought = t be just a curiosity, of interest mainly to geologists and astronomers. = It is about 90 per cent iron. But that remaining 10 per cent - that's = where we hope to 'get rich.' "IN that remaining portion, we have reason to believe, is enough = nickel and platinum to pay us for our trouble and cost. It'll take some = more time yet - remember we were 30 years finding this thing. But once = we get to mining it, we ought to be depression-proof! Those ores are = pretty valuable." Mr. Colvocoresses hastens to add that many unforeseen difficulties = will probably he encountered. But right now he and his company are = elated over locating the main body of the meteorite. Having drilled a = small hole down to it, the next move is to sink a mine shaft big enough = for workers and their tools to descend. Some diamonds, too, have been found in the meteorite, and in the = myriad fragments that a flung off in landing here, but they are too = small to be of any value except as curiosities. Maybe some big ones = will be found as work progrsses. The late D. M. Barringer of Philadelphia made a scientific study of = the crater shortly after 1900, and this resulted in the first = exploration to locate the big bullet itself. Prior to that many people = thought the crater was of ancient volcanic origin. That initial exploration - holes drilled in the very center of the = crater - was done by the Standard Iron Company, but they failed to = locate the meteorite. They had made the mistake of supposing that the bullet had come = straight down. The supposition was costly, for it was later proved that = the projectile struck a somewhat glancing blow from the north, hence did = not bury itself exactly under the center of its hole. THE company directed by Mr. Colvocoreses bored under the south rim = of the crater - not under the crater - and there met success. They = drulled through all sorts of queer formations until they passed the = 1000=3Dfoot mark, then suddenly the drill bit became tightly stuck. All the power the drillers could put on it was wasted. The bit = seemed to be wedged between iron boulders, and in trying to withdraw it = the cable was broken and a valuable string of tools was lost. But the = drillers had reached their goal. Meteor Crater literally fascinated every traveler who stumbles onto = it, especially aviators on air tourists. It is an odd thing, surely. From rim to rim it is almost a mile wide. And the bottom is about = 600 feet below the rim. The hole is almost exactly round. The gigantic = amphitheater is about 25 times the size of the famous Yale Bowl. The Barringer Meteorite was thrown off the molten sun (so th = scientists tell)_ and wandered around for millions of years until it = finally edged over into the earth's gravitational pull. When it got = within the earth's atmosphere its terrific speed - 40 miles a second - = gave rise to enough heat to melt its iron. THE first news of the bullet's coming probably was a roar like = thunder. Then the heat of the thing and the terrible "swis-s-s-h" of = its coming were climaxed by the most unearthly crash and tremble the = North American contenent has ever known. Any persons or animals living within a hundred miles of the bull's = eye must have died instantly. And the terrifying shock of the thing was = felt as far away as Tucson and Denver and Los Angeles are today. Go out and throw a baseball into a pool of stiff mud, and see in = miniature some of the physical effects of the meteor's landing. Note = that mud splashes up and around a considerable area. Now, in your mind, = multiply that phenomenon several billion times and you see what happened = on that plain in northern Arizona. If your constitution demands statistics in such cases, consider = this one: the Barringer Meteorite displaced at least 400,000,000,000 = pounds of rick ad earth when it hit. In one second it moved material equal to one-fourth the total moved = in construct the Panama Canal. THE bullet itself weighed probably 1,000,000 tons. The big mass of molten iron didn't all cling together and bury = itself. Some fot he droplets splashed miles away, and there today you = can see them or pick them up. Well, maybe you can't pick up many of them, for they are too heavy. = Astronished tourists discovered that. A fragment no bigger than your = hat will weigh 60 to 100 pounds and some of the bigger ones seen about = the crater rim have an estimated weight of one to 10 tons. In the area immediately around the crater have been found many more = iron meteorites than have been found on all the rest of the earth's = surface put together. The young comet just naturally split up into a = lot of fragments when it hit, but the main body is still of considerable = size. Those fragments of the earth's surface were regarded as curiosities = for years. In 1886 a group of Mexican sheep herders in the region = collected some of the metal and gave it to railroad contractors, who in = turn sent it east, where it was identified as meteoric iron. ------=_NextPart_000_0057_01C3118B.E15D4BA0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type = content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1141" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY id=3DMailContainerBody=20 style=3D"PADDING-LEFT: 10px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; = COLOR: #000000; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; PADDING-TOP: 15px; FONT-STYLE: = normal; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; = BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; TEXT-DECORATION: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: = none"=20 leftMargin=3D0 topMargin=3D0 acc_role=3D"text" CanvasTabStop=3D"true"=20 name=3D"Compose message area"><?xml:namespace prefix=3D"v" = /><?xml:namespace prefix=3D"o" /> <DIV>Title: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune <BR>City: Wisconsin Rapids, = Wisconsin=20 <BR>Date: Saturday, July 09, 1932</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>Down to the Bottom of THE BIGGEST SHELL HOLE On Earth<BR>After = 30 years=20 of drilling in Arizona's famous Meteor crater, engineers have located = the main=20 body of the comet that buried itself in the earth 400 centuries ago and = made a=20 hole nearly a mile wide.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>By Oren Arnold</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> THEY'RE a little bit later about it - = 40,000 years=20 late - but it's nevertheless true that a group of people out in Arizona = have=20 just discovered the projectile that made the world's largest shell=20 hole.<BR> Police will not be officially = notified. =20 An X to mark the spot where the body lay will not even be necessary, for = the=20 body is still there!<BR> And the wound is so big = that=20 people build houses and live right down in the middle of it. It's = quite a=20 story, with even a hint of celestial scandal=20 included!<BR> In any consideration of this big = shell, or=20 bullet, or whatever it is called, the very first thing to do is to be = deroutly=20 thankful that it didn't waot a while a hit a big city. Any yet - = one just=20 like it may some day do that very thing!<BR> = This one=20 arrived 400 centuries or so ago, true enough, but a silumar one also = fell as=20 recently as 1908. And you won't have to write home about it, if = you happen=20 to be within 500 mies of where such a projectile strikes. Because = likely=20 you won't have a home any more, and there won't be any=20 you!<BR> If Arizona's shot from the sun should = be=20 duplicated today and hit on Manhatten Island, 10 million lives would be = lost in=20 an instant.<BR> You'll have a hard time = believing all=20 the truths about this gargantuan bullet and its hole. Its size, = for=20 example. Can you imagine a bullet, made of 90 per cent iron, as = big as the=20 Capitol Building at Washington with a couple of courthouses thrown = in?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> THIS one is. It's called the = Barringer=20 Meteorite, and hole is called Meteor "Mountain". The crater is a = gigantic=20 pockmark on the face of a barren plain in northern Arizona, between the = towns of=20 Flagstaff and Winslow.<BR> In 1871 some army = scouts=20 found the big hole and made an official report of=20 it.<BR> For 30 years men have been studying and = drilling=20 into the crater trying to locate the bullet itself. And the = currant big=20 news is that the bullet is found.<BR> There it = is, 500=20 to 1300 feet down in the wound it made, a big mass of gnarles, rugged = iron=20 weighing no one knows how many million pounds! Now, who = wants the=20 contract for hauling it around to exhibit the county=20 fairs?<BR> "It may be big, but it isn't entirely = a white=20 elephant," says George M. Colvocoresses, technical head of the mining = company=20 exploring the crater.<BR> "An old spent bullet = or iron=20 like that might seen at first thought t be just a curiosity, of interest = mainly=20 to geologists and astronomers. It is about 90 per cent iron. = But=20 that remaining 10 per cent - that's where we hope to 'get=20 rich.'<BR> "IN that remaining portion, we have = reason to=20 believe, is enough nickel and platinum to pay us for our trouble and = cost. =20 It'll take some more time yet - remember we were 30 years finding this=20 thing. But once we get to mining it, we ought to be=20 depression-proof! Those ores are pretty=20 valuable."<BR> Mr. Colvocoresses hastens to add = that=20 many unforeseen difficulties will probably he encountered. But = right now=20 he and his company are elated over locating the main body of the=20 meteorite. Having drilled a small hole down to it, the next move = is to=20 sink a mine shaft big enough for workers and their tools to=20 descend.<BR> Some diamonds, too, have been found = in the=20 meteorite, and in the myriad fragments that a flung off in landing here, = but=20 they are too small to be of any value except as curiosities. Maybe = some=20 big ones will be found as work progrsses.<BR> = The late=20 D. M. Barringer of Philadelphia made a scientific study of the crater = shortly=20 after 1900, and this resulted in the first exploration to locate the big = bullet=20 itself. Prior to that many people thought the crater was of = ancient=20 volcanic origin.<BR> That initial exploration - = holes=20 drilled in the very center of the crater - was done by the Standard Iron = Company, but they failed to locate the = meteorite.<BR> =20 They had made the mistake of supposing that the bullet had come straight = down. The supposition was costly, for it was later proved that the = projectile struck a somewhat glancing blow from the north, hence did not = bury=20 itself exactly under the center of its hole.<BR> = THE=20 company directed by Mr. Colvocoreses bored under the south rim of the = crater -=20 not under the crater - and there met success. They drulled through = all=20 sorts of queer formations until they passed the 1000=3Dfoot mark, then = suddenly=20 the drill bit became tightly stuck.<BR> All the = power=20 the drillers could put on it was wasted. The bit seemed to be = wedged=20 between iron boulders, and in trying to withdraw it the cable was broken = and a=20 valuable string of tools was lost. But the drillers had reached = their=20 goal.<BR> Meteor Crater literally fascinated = every=20 traveler who stumbles onto it, especially aviators on air = tourists. It is=20 an odd thing, surely.<BR> From rim to rim it is = almost a=20 mile wide. And the bottom is about 600 feet below the rim. The = hole is=20 almost exactly round. The gigantic amphitheater is about 25 times = the size=20 of the famous Yale Bowl.<BR> The Barringer = Meteorite was=20 thrown off the molten sun (so th scientists tell)_ and wandered around = for=20 millions of years until it finally edged over into the earth's = gravitational=20 pull. When it got within the earth's atmosphere its terrific speed = - 40=20 miles a second - gave rise to enough heat to melt its=20 iron.<BR> THE first news of the bullet's = coming=20 probably was a roar like thunder. Then the heat of the thing and = the=20 terrible "swis-s-s-h" of its coming were climaxed by the most unearthly = crash=20 and tremble the North American contenent has ever=20 known.<BR> Any persons or animals living within = a=20 hundred miles of the bull's eye must have died instantly. And the=20 terrifying shock of the thing was felt as far away as Tucson and Denver = and Los=20 Angeles are today.<BR> Go out and throw a = baseball into=20 a pool of stiff mud, and see in miniature some of the physical effects = of the=20 meteor's landing. Note that mud splashes up and around a = considerable=20 area. Now, in your mind, multiply that phenomenon several billion = times=20 and you see what happened on that plain in northern=20 Arizona.<BR> If your constitution demands = statistics in=20 such cases, consider this one: the Barringer Meteorite displaced at = least=20 400,000,000,000 pounds of rick ad earth when it = hit.<BR> =20 In one second it moved material equal to one-fourth the total moved in = construct=20 the Panama Canal.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> THE bullet itself weighed probably = 1,000,000=20 tons.<BR> The big mass of molten iron didn't all = cling=20 together and bury itself. Some fot he droplets splashed miles = away, and=20 there today you can see them or pick them = up.<BR> Well,=20 maybe you can't pick up many of them, for they are too heavy. = Astronished=20 tourists discovered that. A fragment no bigger than your hat will = weigh 60=20 to 100 pounds and some of the bigger ones seen about the crater rim have = an=20 estimated weight of one to 10 tons.<BR> In the = area=20 immediately around the crater have been found many more iron meteorites = than=20 have been found on all the rest of the earth's surface put = together. The=20 young comet just naturally split up into a lot of fragments when it hit, = but the=20 main body is still of considerable size.<BR> = Those=20 fragments of the earth's surface were regarded as curiosities for = years. =20 In 1886 a group of Mexican sheep herders in the region collected some of = the=20 metal and gave it to railroad contractors, who in turn sent it east, = where it=20 was identified as meteoric iron.<BR></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0057_01C3118B.E15D4BA0-- Received on Sat 03 May 2003 04:51:37 PM PDT |
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