[meteorite-list] Cold hunting?

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:53 2004
Message-ID: <20030910184847.20986.qmail_at_web80513.mail.yahoo.com>

Hello Norm & List,

One of the reasons that Norm mentions my name is
because we've already been exchanging email and mostly
on this very subject. (And why not, we've been
crossing each others tracks for some time, now;-)

But there are a number of us on this list that are
interested in this subject, and even if you never get
a chance to hike these deserts, you may still find
their comments of some interest. And what is also
interesting is that, although each of our field
observations seem unique and each of our ideas on what
must be happening to the meteorites on the ground seem
quite varied, we are actually more in agreement than
we sound, and we appear to be developing a general
consensus!

Along with Norm's questions, there is this one
question that is at the core of a growing debate:

Are the meteorites (that we have found along the
margin of dry lakes) accumulating there primarily
because they have MIGRATED across the lake when it was
wet, or are they primarily accumulating there because
of being washed DOWN the alluvial fan?

We have been going back and forth on this one quite a
lot, lately. But there is one thing that all of us
involved in this debate do agree upon:

The exact spot where a meteorite was found may contain
more information of scientific interest than the
actual find itself. (Arguably, knowing how that [L6]
meteorite got to that spot, may have more importance
to geological science, than the "importance" of
another [L6] meteorite to meteoritical science. ;-)

So, this is why we've been making such a big deal
about recording recovery information. You can never
know which seemingly unimportant detail is, in
reality, exceedingly important and crucial to
advancing our understanding of these processes.

Regards,
Bob V.

------------------------------
[meteorite-list] Cold hunting?
N Lehrman nlehrman_at_nvbell.net
Wed, 10 Sep 2003 09:34:10 -0700

Tom & list,

I've always liked the sound of this quote (the
original formulation was Nininger's---), but I think
it may be subject to a couple of qualifiers relating
to preservation and exposure.

As an exploration geologist, I spend at least 15-20
long days every month wandering the alluvial fans and
dry lakes of Nevada searching for mineralized float
(and, unofficially, meteorites!). Some of the remote
dry lakes are almost certainly unsearched, and can
cover many square miles.
Putting along on my ATV, I can give a reasonably large
area a pretty decent search. After several years of
this, still NO cold finds.

I think the point may be that there's a pretty good
chance that stones have at some point fallen on most
any square mile of earth's surface. However,
in most areas, survival times are short. In many
areas, erosion has erased the record. In other areas,
deposition has buried every trace.

>From the cosmic perspective, every square mile is
created equal, but for us grunts on the ground, that's
far from the case. Some square miles are just
right. Most are not.

These are the ruminations of a fevered brain stumbling
across the burning alkali flats, so take it with a
grain of salt. I'm very curious to hear what others
(Robert V.?) have to say on this.

Cheers

Norm Lehrman
( http://TektiteSource.com )






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Received on Wed 10 Sep 2003 02:48:47 PM PDT