[meteorite-list] Strange Rock Reports

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:20:14 -0500
Message-ID: <A9F4E1211FC744FEBD303978112F96F8_at_ATARIENGINE2>

It was my impression that he was searching
for a recent fall from the observed fireball.
Or maybe I got that confused with another
thread. So I posted what recent falls, fresh
falls, would look like.

In the Eastern US, the Midwest, the high
rainfall, the freeze-thaw cycling of winters,
and the high porosity of meteorites pretty
much guarantees that a chondrite will be
transformed, even disintegrated, in short
order.

Deserts are a different story.

Such states have an abnornally high per-
centage of their finds as irons and stoney-
irons. Of the eight meteorites in the 2000
edition of the NHM Catalogue listed for
Pennsylvania, only three (38%) are non-iron,
while 90% or more of the meteorites that
fall there (and everywhere else) are stones.

Why? Stones don't survive in those conditions.


Sterling K. Webb
-------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Stanley" <stanleygregr at hotmail.com>
To: <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>; "Mike Hankey"
<mike.hankey at gmail.com>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 6:47 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Strange Rock Reports




All:

I would say it's not that cut-n-dry. I have found highly weathered
meteorites that do not look like the ones Sterling has posted. I agree
that the ones Mike posted they are most likely slag and definitely are
not from a fall, but you never know. I like to keep an open mind.

Most of the meteorites I find on Lake Beds have no fusion crust, are
often fractured or broken so they have sharp edges. Even a few are very
weakly attracted to a magnet due to oxidation. I found one and it
looked just like a piece of dark red jasper. When it felt heavy and
stuck to a magnet, I knew it was a meteorite.

Good luck Mike and keep at it.

Greg S.

----------------------------------------
> From: sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net
> To: mike.hankey at gmail.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:31:16 -0500
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Strange Rock Reports
>
> THIS is a meteorite that has been on the
> ground awhile, years, decades, centuries,
> millennia? but is only partly degraded.
> It's lost its gloss but it's perfectly plain
> what it is:
> http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cms/astro/cosmos/M/Meteorite
>
> THIS is a meteorite that just fell only days
> before some sharp-eyed fellow picked it up:
> http://meteoriteguy.com/lamanchaspainfall/lamancha555a.JPG
>
> What you are holding in your hand is SLAG.
>
> I mean, I don't want to be overly blunt here,
> but that's not the kind of rock you want to
> expend effort on finding. Toss it in the question
> mark barrel and go find one like the two pix
> above. You'll be a lot happier...
>
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Hankey"
> To: "meteoritelist"
> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 2:23 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Strange Rock Reports
>
>
> I?ve gotten about six strange rock reports so far which is great! It
> shows the locals know meteorites could be on the ground and they are
> keeping an eye out for them. I have been able to identify most of the
> rocks I?ve seen so far, but this one in particular I?m not sure about.
> If anyone knows what this rock is please let me know. It is very hard
> and magnetic seemed like a lot of metal in it. It is pretty weathered
> and hard to tell if it has a crust on it or not.
>
> http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gideon-rock1.jpg
>
> http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gideon-rock2.jpg
>
> http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gideon-rock3.jpg
>
> http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gideon-rock4.jpg
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Received on Wed 16 Sep 2009 08:20:14 PM PDT