[meteorite-list] A few questions about a found meterite

From: Mark Abbott <Mark_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:27:25 -0500
Message-ID: <4A70F6FD.4070008_at_mor-designs.com>

A little background:

I was recently selling at a gem and mineral show here in Minnesota. I
have developed a reputation among the local dealers as a meteorite
"expert", so if anyone starts asking around if what they found is a
meteorite, they get directed to me. And, of course, for the last fifteen
years I have identified a lot of hematite, magnetite, and other iron
minerals (we have the Iron Range" in northern Minnesota), as well as
some basalt and black river rock. Clinkers and slag, too. From what I
have read from others, the odds are a thousand or ten thousand to one of
being presented with a found meteorite.

Well, I had a kid come up to me at this show and ask if I could look a
stone he thought might be a meteorite, that he had been directed to me
from another dealer. I said "Sure", expecting to give him the bad news.
He pulled it out of a zip-loc bag, and visually I couldn't rule it out.
Step 1 passed. Then he put it in my hand, and my heart started to beat
faster... it had the higher density I expect from irons. Step 2 passed.
Closer visual inspection showed a few shallow regmalypts. One face
looked a little odd, and he told me he had taken a dremel to the
somewhat flat surface which highlighted some parts leaving the somewhat
lower parts still dark. It's not how I am used to seeing Widmanstaaten
patterns , but given what he told me, what I could have been a course
octohedrite (without it having been polished and etched). There was also
an edge where it looked like a bit of crystal was separating. It had had
some weathering to it.

I told him that I felt reasonably certain that there was a good chance
this was indeed an iron meteorite. I mentioned a few places he could
send it to be tested, and a geology professor at the University of
Minnesota (his PhD thesis dealt with analyzing the Apollo moon rocks and
he is the curator of the U's meteorite display). He thanked me for the
info, but didn't seem that interested in pursuing them.

While all this is going on I am also trying to get conversationally get
information from him on where he had found it. He lives in White Bear
Lake. It turns out it was in his driveway.... which a few weeks ago had
gotten a layer of gravel put on it. He didn't remember or know where the
gravel came from. DAMN!

So:
He could be scamming me, but usually they have this whole story full of
stuff which they think make it more realistic, but which is total bullshit.
Someone could have tossed it there (Why?), but it had what I would
consider several years weathering to it.

So, it probably came from a gravel pit.

Now, my questions:

Is there anything else I could have asked to pursue this?

Also, how long could an iron survive here in Minnesota. It had some
weathering (months to years?) but it wasn't severely weathered (falling
apart or excessively oxidized)? Obviously not from when the gravel pit
was created (Tens of thousands of years).
Received on Wed 29 Jul 2009 09:27:25 PM PDT