Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

[tod1d]

Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

My son and I were hunting at a nearby tot-lot and found this. It sticks to a magnet and is pretty heavy for its size. I probably won't have it tested. Regardless of what it would turn out to be I think it is pretty neat find.

 

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[Tuberale]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

But, I do agree with you on one point, if I find a meteorite, I'll find it on private property!! Peace Brother......

I like you, EagleDown.

I won't look for the Chinook meteorite because I respect Concomolly: I think he was one of the great statesmen of this land. But I will go with any Chinook who wish to find their tomawanassas. I think Concomolly was right: the Chinooks need their meteorite returned. It granted Concomolly's tribe a 50-year peace. Perhaps it will grant them a greater peace in the future.

 

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[EagleDown]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

Well, one thing I do know for sure.....I'm going back up to the Merced river!! This thread has given me a bad case of "I gotta know for sure".

To explain; while I was dredging for gold in the Merced, I found an area along the bank, about 15ft X 10ft that had a number of "rocks" that were from 10 inches in diameter to the size of a basketball. They were rust colored and looked like iron. The basketball sized ones were so heavy that I couldn't lift one. They were mostly round and covered with quarter sized (rounded) pits. Kind of like they were molten at one time and had bubbles on the surface that had popped and become rounded on the edges. Unfortunately, I had never seen a meteorite but I remember thinking that they looked like what I would imagine a meteorite would look like. I didn't take any as I wasn't aware that meteorites had much value.

When I get back up there, I'll be sure to take a magnet (and some help) with me. Hey, who knows??

Never lose the dream!!

 

[cgull]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

Hmmm, I have two basket ball sized heavy rocks with the golf ball dents all around. Never thought to see if they're magnetic, I picked them up because of they where so heavy and neat looking. I'll post pics later.

 

[DanL]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

Well, one thing I do know for sure.....I'm going back up to the Merced river!! This thread has given me a bad case of "I gotta know for sure".

To explain; while I was dredging for gold in the Merced, I found an area along the bank, about 15ft X 10ft that had a number of "rocks" that were from 10 inches in diameter to the size of a basketball. They were rust colored and looked like iron. The basketball sized ones were so heavy that I couldn't lift one. They were mostly round and covered with quarter sized (rounded) pits. Kind of like they were molten at one time and had bubbles on the surface that had popped and become rounded on the edges. Unfortunately, I had never seen a meteorite but I remember thinking that they looked like what I would imagine a meteorite would look like. I didn't take any as I wasn't aware that meteorites had much value.

When I get back up there, I'll be sure to take a magnet (and some help) with me. Hey, who knows??

Never lose the dream!!

Unfortunately, based on your description (iron/rust color, molten at one time, former bubbles on the surface), the location (prospecting area near a river), and the fact that you found multiple specimens in one area, what you found was almost definitely melted metal ore / slag.

 

[DanL]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

My son and I were hunting at a nearby tot-lot and found this. It sticks to a magnet and is pretty heavy for its size. I probably won't have it tested. Regardless of what it would turn out to be I think it is pretty neat find.

I'm pretty sure it's not a meteorite for two reasons. First, it almost looks like there's a piece of white quartz-like material embedded in it. If true, you won't find that in a meteorite but you will in slag. But even more importantly, there are tiny holes (vesicles) in your sample. Iron meteorites don't have vesicles, but slag does -- those little pinholes are created by escaping gas while the molten slag cools.

 

[Tuberale]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

Well, one thing I do know for sure.....I'm going back up to the Merced river!! This thread has given me a bad case of "I gotta know for sure".

To explain; while I was dredging for gold in the Merced, I found an area along the bank, about 15ft X 10ft that had a number of "rocks" that were from 10 inches in diameter to the size of a basketball. They were rust colored and looked like iron. The basketball sized ones were so heavy that I couldn't lift one. They were mostly round and covered with quarter sized (rounded) pits. Kind of like they were molten at one time and had bubbles on the surface that had popped and become rounded on the edges. Unfortunately, I had never seen a meteorite but I remember thinking that they looked like what I would imagine a meteorite would look like. I didn't take any as I wasn't aware that meteorites had much value.

When I get back up there, I'll be sure to take a magnet (and some help) with me. Hey, who knows??

Never lose the dream!!

Unfortunately, based on your description (iron/rust color, molten at one time, former bubbles on the surface), the location (prospecting area near a river), and the fact that you found multiple specimens in one area, what you found was almost definitely melted metal ore / slag.

When a meteorite enters the atmosphere, the water vapor in the atmosphere acts roughly the same way as a body of water does on a bullet: it slows dramatically. Most rocks submitted potential meteorites are, in fact, not.

That being said, there's no reason why a cluster of meteorite fragments (not usually round, but rather angular) could be found in the same location. A lot of meteorites are noticed by a brilliant light given off when they are still 10-30 miles above the ground, often accompanied by an explosion. A rock that goes from near absolute zero of outer space to several thousand degrees often breaks apart at a high altitude. That's one reason why THE EXACT LOCATION WHERE FOUND if important. Multiple meteorite fragments can form a "strewn field", where multiple meteorite fragments are found in the same relatively close area. That area could be a few square yards, or several square miles.

It's also the reason why meteorites have to be tested: they are among the oldest known objects from our solar system, and provide much needed data on the history of our portion of space.

BTW, Dick Pugh of the Cascade Meteorite Laboratory, just announced the finding of Oregon's "fifth" meteorite this morning. I'll try to find out more and post it in the "News" section of the forum.

 

[EagleDown]

Re: Meteorite or "Meteorwrong"?

Unfortunately, based on your description (iron/rust color, molten at one time, former bubbles on the surface), the location (prospecting area near a river), and the fact that you found multiple specimens in one area, what you found was almost definitely melted metal ore / slag.
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I realise what you are saying, but I know that there were never any steel mills upriver from this site. The only industry up-river is the tourist industry in Yosemite National Park.

So, due to the lack of any foundry or steel mill, which would be the only way that these could have been created by man, I have to assume that they are natural. BUT, (and this is only conjecture,) I guess they might have been created by volcanic action. I don't know if a volcano would blow out super heated 100+ blobs of iron, but, I don't put anything past creation.

Anyway, the only way to find out for sure is for me to return to the area and see if I can find them again, then check them out. Since they are in an area that is only accessible by "shanks mare", it should be much the same as when I was last there in 1991. (Or there abouts.)