[meteorite-list] A few odd questions on The Meteorite Men

From: Carl 's <carloselguapo1_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:16:35 -0700
Message-ID: <COL108-W29C57750E4DDD6F9D6509F9BFD0_at_phx.gbl>

I'm not sure if this was mentioned earlier but during the Meteorite Men show when Steve and Geoff were digging only with shovels at the Alpha site, the commentator said, "It's possible that the meteorite fall at alpha is more recent than the one at Brenham so there is less time for soil to build up."

In the beginning of the program Steve and Geoff were driving an ATV around a farmer's field in Brenham pulling the large metal detector sled. They had help from Dan using a back hoe because the meteorites were buried very deep (I figure about 4'- 5' deep). This site is nearby Steve's 1400 lb find.

Huh?

The commentator made it sound like there were two separate falls of the Brenham pallasite in the same strewnfield. How can one area be more recent than another of the same fall? I don't think that's likely, so I'm wondering why the meteorites on one side of the strewnfield is buried much more deeper than the alpha site. Is there more erosion to account for more soil on one end? Is one area more disturbed than the other? That is, plowed over repeatedly? It looked like the alpha site is not used much for farming.

While I'm at it, why are the olivine crystals found at the alpha site not broken, or less broken, than the others? No explanation was given, but again inferred that the meteorites at the alpha site is fresher (recent)?

Great show! I especially liked the segment where Steve, Geoff and Meenakshi were showing, sniffing and talking about the Murchison and Allende meteorites in the lab.

Carl




_________________________________________________________________
Get back to school stuff for them and cashback for you.
http://www.bing.com/cashback?form=MSHYCB&publ=WLHMTAG&crea=TEXT_MSHYCB_BackToSchool_Cashback_BTSCashback_1x1
Received on Thu 20 Aug 2009 09:16:35 AM PDT