[meteorite-list] RICHLAND

From: MexicoDoug <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:59:18 -0600
Message-ID: <001a01c76b08$b9ced9c0$83068cc9_at_0019110394>

Hi List,

On the original mass of RICHLAND ) and its possible human or natural
transport:

For the record, the first mass of RICHLAND found was apparently >15.4 kg,
not 13.keg as has been mentioned throughout this exchange.

V. Buchwald (1975) indicates that the while 'main mass' of Richland was 30
pounds (13.6kg), but the mass found in the well in Texas was supposedly 34
pounds (15.4kg). The Smithsonian acquired a 961 gram slice and a 40 gram
part slice for a total of 1.001kg, and the Monnig collection acquired "1kg"
so those would be the additional masses part of the piece taken out of the
well in 1951.

Given that the Monnig collection has two specimens, a slice of 0.875 kg and
another end cut of 3.671kg, it would be my innocent assumption that they got
the end cut more recently and that the 0.875 was their original piece of the
15.4kg that was found.

Originally the finder had drilled a few holes and managed to core the iron,
and banged it up with a hammer not to mention also most probably
inadvertently creating a area of false "fusion crust" by trying to melt the
find with an acetylene torch (well-justified speculation by VB). So
whatever he removed would have brought the weight to around 16 kg.

For the question of transport of the smaller originally described RICHLAND
(Richland) specimen, let me quote Buchwald for those who would like to
interpret whether they think it was tossed into the well or found as a
result of the digging of the well:

p. 1020 Buchwald (1975)
"While cleaning out an old water well, he found the meteorite among the
debris at the bottom. The depth was reported to be 5.5 to 5.6 meters, but
the mass may have been originally located in the wall at a higher level."

Not sure if that was posted earlier, as I've sensibly read and deleted the
Tommy Gun exchange which described the RICHLAND hostage situation, but I put
it here because it seems a case can be made that someone tossed it into the
well, or equally, that it was found in its 'original' resting place inside
the sediment (assuming sedimentary) in the wall of the well. If it was in
the wall though, it could have been put there for structural integrity, too,
though.

Best Health,
Doug


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sergey Vasiliev" <petrovich at sv-meteorites.com>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:25 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] RICHLAND


> Or the first mass of 13.6 kg (only) was moved but found first ;-)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com]On Behalf Of Darren
> Garrison
> Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:04 PM
> To: Meteorite List
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] RICHLAND
>
>
> On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:23:01 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>
> >could be possible. If the natives had taken the
> >trouble to carry it that far (before horses) I doubt
> >they would have cast it off so like junk, it would
> >likely have ended up in a mound or something.
>
> If you go with the theory of paleoindians moving it, I suppose you could
> come up
> with multiple possible explanations of why it was "cast off"-- amongst
them
> being the group that owned the meteorite being wiped out by war or disease
> or
> having to abandon the area quickly because of war, disease, or drought.
Or
> maybe it WAS once in a mound that has since been destroyed by people or
> weathering. Or it could have been buried in the ground like Winona. Or
it
> could have been kept so long that tribal memory of what it was supposed to
> be
> that made it valuable to them faded, and some great-great-great-great
> grandson
> of the original finders chucked it out during a spring cleaning. Or...
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Received on Tue 20 Mar 2007 11:59:18 AM PDT