[meteorite-list] Meteorite hunting in Spain vs. USA deserts

From: JKGwilliam <h3chondrite_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Feb 22 10:26:06 2005
Message-ID: <6.0.3.0.2.20050222081214.02874eb0_at_pop.west.cox.net>

Martin,
Out here is the American West, we have similar problems with metallic trash
but it doesn't stop the meteorite hunters. Take the Franconia strewn field
for example. During a typical day of meteorite hunting, a person will find
hundreds of metal targets from as small as boot tacks to large objects like
bomb casing left over from WWII bombing practice. The area was used to
train bomber and fighter pilots and the ground is littered (on the surface
and buried) with empty shell casings, 50 and 30 caliber projectiles and the
steel links that held the belts of ammo together. It isn't uncommon to dig
50 - 100 pieces of trash for every meteorite fragment found, sometimes more.

These areas were also known gold producing area and the metal trash left
behind by men trying to dig a living out of the desert is phenomenal. We
find sardine cans, soup cans, grease cans, Price Albert tobacco cans (very
popular) as well as broken tools, pipe and very thin nearly invisible
wire. Then to top it all off, we have to deal with the tiny bits of
metallic foil left behind from cigarette packs and chewing gum wrappers.

The die-hard hunters have developed a simple philosophy " just dig it."

Best,

John Gwilliam

At 05:44 AM 2/22/2005, Martin Altmann wrote:
>We have to ask our Spanish list members,
>as in Spain there is the only desert in Europe, the Desierto de Tabernas.
>Never was there. On the pictures I saw from, I couldn't find a suitable
>terrain.
>Another problem: In Europe everything is full of metal and slags. Thousands
>years of settlement, agriculture, metal melting, wars - if one only thinks
>how much metal the last two world wars pumped in the soil. You'll find
>everything from Roman coins, medieavel or antique slags, bullets from Thirty
>years war, nails from bronze age, but no meteorites. Didn't check the stats,
>but we had no European Nininger (Chladni was a kind of a scientific
>vagabond) and so the most European meteorites will have fallen in front of
>the peoples feet rather than to be found by chance.
>
>Buckleboo!
>Martin
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Bowling" <minador_at_yahoo.com>
>To: "Mark Bowling" <minador_at_yahoo.com>
>Cc: "Meteorite Hunters" <meteorite_hunters_at_yahoogroups.com>;
>"Meteorite-List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 6:19 AM
>Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite hunting in Spain (was First meteorites)
>
>
> > Hi List,
> >
> > I know Martin, was referring to central Europe, but how about Spain -
> > are there some great places to hunt there? I had the impression that
> > there is some nice dry areas in some areas, or is the terrain in those
> > areas not suitable to meteorite hunting?
> >
> > Considering the ratio of falls and finds in a region and also factoring
> > in the population density, could there be a way to measure how good a
> > region will be for meteorite recovery? What other factors should be
> > included, and has any work been done on this subject?
> >
> > Clear skies,
> >
> > Mark
> > Vail, AZ
>
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Received on Tue 22 Feb 2005 10:26:19 AM PST