[meteorite-list] Meteorite in New Hampshire

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:48:16 -0600
Message-ID: <037401c756f5$124a3d60$32ea8c46_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi, Gary, List

    I don't want to throw cold water on this possibility
(plenty of that already), but every winter, there's one
or more "did a meteorite land in a pond/lake" stories
that pop up on the List. There was a long-lasting thread
back in Jan., 2001, about a lake in Finland (where,
incidentally, there are many "meteorite in a lake/pond"
stories, none of which ever panned out with a rock).

    There are so many things that can make a hole
in an icy pond. The ice is obviously quite thick now.
How thick was it when the hole appeared? The fact that
the hole is in the "center" (more or less) is always a
suspicious piece of data. Lakes and ponds freeze from
the shallow shore to the deep center, in that order. The
center (or the deepest spot) is always the last place to
freeze and the ice is always thinnest there.

    This creates a mental trap for the unwary pond
crosser, whether they be human or critter. You test the
ice near the edge, as you go out on it and again as you
move away from shore. It is obviously strong enough
to drive a car on; you lose caution and proceed on your
merry way. Pond crossers always go over the center
of the pond because it's the shortest distance and saving
distance is the purpose of the exercise.

    Particularly when the temperature drop is recent and
not long-term, you will find lakes and ponds with thick
stampable ice over the shallow margins (and farm ponds
tend to have broad shallows) while in the center sits a
universal invitation to a sudden thermal excursion.

    The owner's assertion of "no tracks" has to be weighed
against the time that may have elapsed, the wind drift factor,
the chance of snow since the incident, and the likelihood
of quick wet prancing (and very annoyed) feet leaving prints.

    No hunt for a space rock is ever wasted, though. Alan
Hildebrand, of the MIAC - Prairie Meteorite Search project
in Canada, with very reasonable assumptions, estimates that
~1.4 meteorites >100 g mass occur in each km2 (or about
4.5 meteorites >10 g mass). That's about one 100+ gm
meteorite for every 175 acres, or one 10 gm every 56 acres.
Read: http://miac.uqac.ca/MIAC/pmsearch.htm

    I'm sure that your "particles" contain meteoritic material;
every open body of water in the world collects cosmic dust!
In fact, Jerry Flaherty posted a story about kids collecting
meteor "dust" on the night of major meteor showers using
a big flat pan of water. You can also find cosmic "stuff"
in the muck that lines the bottom of your gutters. Scrape
out your gutters, put the gunk in a plastic bucket, dilute
with water, drag a supermagnet through it, and Voila! Star
Dust.

    There's a long list of natural occurances that can punch
holes in new-iced ponds. But one of them is... Meteorite!
My problem is that I can't find any rendition of a meteorite
having been found that way.


Sterling K. Webb
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary K. Foote" <gary at webbers.com>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 7:41 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite in New Hampshire


Though the tale has not yet unfolded fully, here is where we stand to date,
along with
some photos...

http://www.meteorite-dealers.com/nhmet.html

More to come as we continue our search.

Gary
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Received on Thu 22 Feb 2007 09:48:16 PM PST