[meteorite-list] Kansas Farmers Reaping Meteorites by the Acre

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Apr 17 01:40:43 2006
Message-ID: <200604170435.VAA06350_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14358544.htm

Farmers reaping meteorites by the acre
Associated Press
April 16, 2006

HAVILAND, Kan. - Kiowa County farmers have found a new crop worth
harvesting: meteorites.

But even though a 20-pound meteorite can go for up to $20,000, area
farmers Don and Sheila Stimpson have another goal in mind other than
money. They want to open a meteorite museum and establish Haviland as
the Meteorite Capital of America.

On Saturday they invited Haviland Mayor Jeff Christensen and University
of California research scientists Candace Kohl and Kunihiko Nishiizumi
to watch as they dug up three meteorites with the help of backhoe
operator Dan Woods.

"This is better than hunting for Easter eggs," Kohl said.

The backhoe dug until, between 5 and 6 feet, the scoop scraped rock.

Woods said it was the 15th meteorite he'd helped dig up in Brenham
Township since September.

The Brenham meteorites, named for Brenham Township near Haviland, fell
from space about 20,000 years ago. They're known for their naturally
occurring gemstones of olivine crystals, which look like stained glass
when cut.

In the 1920s and 1930s, one of the world's foremost meteorite hunters,
Harvey H. Ninnger, examined Kiowa County's impact crater site and left
with many finds. In 1949, collector H.O. Stockwell found the previous
record-setter, a 1,000-pound meteorite, on what is now the Stimpsons'
land. It's housed at the Celestial Museum at the Big Well in Greensburg,
Kan.

The hunting frenzy began again in earnest in Kiowa County last fall when
Steve Arnold, a professional meteorite hunter and former Wichitan,
uncovered a 1,400-pound meteorite in Brenham Township. It turned out to
be one of the world's largest oriented pallasites, which have olivine
crystals embedded in iron-nickel alloy.

The two smaller meteorites found Saturday weighed between 150 and 250
pounds each. The larger still has to be weighed but measured 2 feet by 2
feet by 20 inches.

But the Stimpsons still hoped the new meteorites would help them get
their museum.

"I consider this meteorite crater to be a national treasure, a pallasite
meteorite crater," Stimpson said. "I am hoping we can attract some
attention to the area."
Received on Mon 17 Apr 2006 12:35:14 AM PDT