A few nice CW items and possible meteorite

[smokeythecat]

Well, two of us went out against our better judgment and relying on a "dud" of a weather forecast. The ground was partially frozen in spots. We spent about 2.5 hours freezing in the biting wind. Not real smart, however, it was sort of fun, with the exception of the wind. The temps were supposed to be 46 or so and it topped 35! Ick.

We went over some areas we though might have a few things left in them, since the fields were disced since we were there last.

Here are a few items. I'm not sure on the meteorite but it does have a fusion crust. I'll do some tests later today. Minie balls, a big tombac button, modern quarter, a round ball that was on top of the ground! and a non descript iron buckle.

 

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[smokeythecat]

What perchance is an "oriented meteorite"? I haven't had the oomph to get off the couch today, as I went digging twice in a row both Saturday and Sunday. I haven't tested it yet at all.

 

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[LByles]

Yes, Louisiana doesn't really have cold snaps!

This is our cold snap....and bipolar weather. It’ll be in the mid 70s next week. And we’re currently under flood watch

 

[creskol]

Well done Smokey..were you in a spot close to home?

 

[Red-Coat]

What perchance is an "oriented meteorite"? I haven't had the oomph to get off the couch today, as I went digging twice in a row both Saturday and Sunday. I haven't tested it yet at all.

Great array of relics, but I would be sure that isn't an oriented meteorite.

Oriented meteorites exhibit features resulting from surface melting and ablation during atmospheric re-entry or from subsequent travel as molten ‘shrapnel’ from meteorites that have broken up. They're 'oriented' in the sense that they have been heat-shaped or sculpted in a way that tells you which was the 'front' and which was the 'back' when they were descending.

They typically have a rounded aerodynamic profile, like this:



Or a flattened squarish face, like this:



And/or (especially for nickel-iron meteorites) molten ‘flow’lines’ from the leading edge that indicate the direction of travel, like this:



Or (for nickel-iron meteorites) a distinct shape from melting that approaches a tear-drop or is convoluted, like this:



What they don’t have is the kind of rough surface appearance of the item you found.

 

[smokeythecat]

Thanks for the replies. I still doubt it's a meterorite but it was still out of place for where we found it. It COULD be, but being so little, it's really just a curiosity. Yes, it's 12 miles from where I live. Nice. Going to rain all week and then drop into the teens this weekend. Here's two more pics with a Dino Lite digital microscope.

 

[RTR]

On the meteorite 2 locations are still testing them.One in Cambridge Mass. The other in NYC.......
>> METEORITE TESTING AND CLASSIFYING INSTITUTIONS

 

[smokeythecat]

Thanks RTR. If anything I'd send it to John Attard and he will see if there is nickel content in it for $50 or less. But it's so small, it really doesn't make much sense to worry with it.

 

[RTR]

Thanks RTR. If anything I'd send it to John Attard and he will see if there is nickel content in it for $50 or less. But it's so small, it really doesn't make much sense to worry with it.

Depends .Some fetch from $1,800 TO $25,000 per oz.

 

[smokeythecat]

And I suppose a Pennsylvania meteorite would fetch more than one from Arizona then...I will do a specific gravity test on it first.