[meteorite-list] Metallic Rock Baffles Experts

From: ken newton <magellon_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Aug 1 07:54:32 2006
Message-ID: <44CF40E0.5070306_at_earthlink.net>

Hi,
This appears to be sulfide slag.
Bob Verish has been trying to track down the source of this road fill
for some time.
http://home.earthlink.net/~magellon/hotrocks.html
Best,
Ken Newton
IMCA #9632

Sterling K. Webb wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Can you tell that yesterday it was 100.4 F.
> (previous record 98 F.) and today it's 102 F
> (previous record 93 F.) with 94% humidity?
> A nice day to sit in front of the computer at
> a balmy 82 F (with 40% humidity) and worry
> about odd metal rocks probably not from
> space...
>
> Meteorite? No way!
>
> Is this another contest? If so, I vote for
> Molybdenum. Yup, Molly Be Damned gets
> my vote!
>
> Here's the photo:
> http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/photo/18667900_ddn073006mysteriousrocksp2.html
>
>
> This is naturally occuring molybdenum ore:
> http://www.edzone.net/~tzielask/molybdenum_-_no_label.jpg
>
> Molybdenum metal in two states of fusion:
> http://www.krdnet.com/EBAY/Galleries/october/DSCF2836.JPG
> It can be quite granular.
>
> Polished molybdenite:
> http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photomoly.html
>
> What's "Molly Be Damned" doing in Ohio?
>
> Any real experts (not me) on The List?
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> -------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Baalke"
> <baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
> To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 11:20 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Metallic Rock Baffles Experts
>
>
>>
>> http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/073106mysteryrock.html
>>
>>
>> Rock baffles experts; can't figure out what it is
>>
>> A Preble County farmer found the very heavy, likely man-made
>> pieces on his property.
>>
>> By Steve Bennish
>> Dayton Daily News
>> July 30, 2006
>>
>> A mysterious 400-pound load of metallic rubble found by a Preble County
>> farmer in a creek near his home is baffling geology experts at Sinclair
>> Community College who have tried to analyze it.
>>
>> The material appears to be man-made and the result of some industrial
>> process, but even after a half-dozen common tests over many weeks, its
>> composition and origin remains unknown, said Anne Henry, associate
>> professor of geology at Sinclair.
>>
>> The material's unusual properties have baffled testers, Henry said.
>>
>> Some of it has been found in 20-pound chunks the approximate shape of
>> squashed bread loaves with scorched, blackish exteriors. Broken open,
>> the chunks have bright, aluminum-colored, granular interiors with some
>> traces of green or gold. It does not attract a magnet, nor is it
>> radioactive.
>>
>> The hardness of the material is remarkable, measuring between an eight
>> and a nine on the scientific Mohs scale of hardness, harder than steel
>> and in the range of precious stones like topaz.
>>
>> It's also extremely dense, greater than iron and on par with a lead ore
>> or bronze alloy. Exposed to temperatures of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit,
>> the material didn't melt. Scrape a piece of it on unglazed porcelain, a
>> common geology test, and it leaves a blackish streak.
>>
>> Research into possible industries in the area that might have generated
>> the material as waste has come to no conclusions, Henry said.
>>
>> Mike West, the farmer who found the metal, said he was enjoying an
>> afternoon with his granddaughter this year on the 80 acres he farms in
>> northern Preble County when he was throwing some rocks in the creek. "I
>> picked up one rock and it was unusually heavy, so I saved that one."
>>
>> Weeks later, still intrigued, he returned with a metal detector. The
>> detector lit up on the piles of rocks in the creek.
>>
>> If someone dumped the material long ago, it would have been a tough job.
>>
>> Not only is the stuff heavy, but the driveway is three-quarters of a
>> mile from the road. The owner of the land moved there in 1968 and has no
>> knowledge of the deposit, West said.
>>
>> West at one time thought it might be the remains of a meteor impact.
>> Henry doesn't think so, and is pretty much convinced the material is
>> man-made. Henry hopes that more sophisticated testing, using equipment
>> the college doesn't have on hand, will expose the nature of the deposit.
>>
>> Her best guesses are that the material is some form of industrial ingot
>> or casting. She's hoping a local expert or business will volunteer to
>> provide some guidance or more advanced testing facilities.
>>
>> "From a geology point of view, I'd like to know what it is, what its
>> industrial application is and why it is sitting in this guy's field,"
>> Henry said.
>>
>> Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish_at_DaytonDailyNews.com.
>>
>> Want to help?
>>
>> To volunteer expertise help Anne Henry identify the rocks, you can reach
>> her at (937) 512-4560 or write her at: Anne Henry, Geology Department,
>> Sinclair Community College, 444 W. Third St., Dayton, OH 45402 or e-mail
>> anne.henry_at_sinclair.edu.anne.henry@sinclair.edu.
>>
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>
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Received on Tue 01 Aug 2006 07:54:08 AM PDT