Question About Finding Meteorites... PLEASE

[olekyground]

I have a question. I am very new to all this. I have a Whites M6 detector. Is that a good detector to find meteorites with and how do I find them?? Can they be in my back yard?

 

[olekyground]

thanks for all the info "Spooky"

A lot of that helped me out. I myself have always been interested in outer space and what lies out there beyond our reach. So Meteorites do interest me very much so. I wouldn't mind getting some money from the deal as well but, overall I think I would just enjoy holding something that I know came from the far distance above us. thanks!!

 

[paseclipse]

And you can find them with any machine, (Iron nickel ones)the deeper machine the better..

I wouldn't say "any" metal detector will find all meteorites, perhaps iron meteorites which are extremely rare. The vast majority of found meteorites are the stony type (chondrites) and the best detector's I've seen work on these are gold prospecting units. I've seen high end coin/relic detectors pass over large H chondrites (high metal) and there was no indication what-so-ever that a meteorite was below the coil. I think it might have something to do with the frequency the detector operates at because it seems higher frequency detectors have an easier time picking them up. However even using a gold prospecting detector still doesn't guarantee you'll pick them all up because I've seen many meteorites that barely set off these detectors as well. Because of this the best tool for meteorite hunting are your eyes because a lot of them are sitting right on top of the surface, at least in the southwest deserts they are.

Not trying to rain on your parade or anything, just telling you the reality of meteorite hunting.

 

[paseclipse]

Hi Spooky, I really hope you didn't take that in offense and yes I did notice that you wrote that. Chondrites have nickel and iron in them too which places them into the category you mention. Now if you would have wrote "iron" meteorites then I probably would have interpreted it differently.

I mention metal detectors and chondrites because if someone is to get into meteorite hunting their best bet to be successfull is to look for chondrites because iron meteorites are extremely rare. Most people believe ALL meteorites can be picked up with a metal detector and thats just not true.

Just trying to help by pointing out the realities of meteorite hunting and what works.

 

[Tuberale]

I have a question. I am very new to all this. I have a Whites M6 detector. Is that a good detector to find meteorites with and how do I find them?? Can they be in my back yard?

Honestly guy, they can be ANYWHERE.
But the BEST places are arid dry regions with little surface activity, like a desert.
i have heard of plowed fields producing.

And you can find them with any machine, (Iron nickel ones)the deeper machine the better..
An M6 should work for you.
The southwestern U.S. is prime meteorite hunting territory.
This area of the country lends itself to the preservation of meteoritic material. Because of the southwest’s arid climate, and low annual rainfall, meteorites are more preserved here than in any other part of the U.S. Meteorites contain iron and iron is prone to corrosion, therefore a dryer climate will preserve meteorites for a longer period of time. That’s why more meteorites are found in the Sahara desert than any other place on earth. Northwest African meteorites (better known as NWA meteorites) are plentiful because the climate is perfect.

Anywhere there’s “Old Ground” and the climate is arid, you’ll most likely find meteorites.
Swamps wouldn’t be a good place to look, but anywhere that is relatively dry, with old ground is a great place to hunt. You can find meteorites just about anywhere on the planet. The Willamette meteorite for example (the largest meteorite ever found in the United States at 15 tons) was found in Oregon of all places.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Oregon but it rains there in the forested areas almost daily. A lot of the Willamette had weathered away but it still is the biggest meteorite yet to be found in the U.S. If a chondrite (stone meteorite) falls in the ocean, the iron in it breaks down and will crumble into nothing in a short period of time. Water, humidity, and wind erosion contribute greatly to a meteorite’s demise.

And you are NOT going to "strike it rich" finding metorites.

I know that TV show said you would, but if you don't REALLY 'love' it and are just looking to make money, you should get a part time job or something.

There's a lot of good information here.

And some not so good. Sorry.

Deserts are defined as areas with little available surface water. So the desert Southwestern U.S. is a good place to search for meteorites. But Antarctica is also a desert, as there is almost never any rainfall there. In recent years, thousands of meteorites have been found in Antarctica, partially because of global warming. There, meteorites may "stick out" because they often have a black or dark brown fusion crust. Shows up well against ice. In the Southwest U.S., long-term exposure to low-level rainfall produces caliche, a kind of white crust on older rocks. Rocks without caliche are therefore suspect when searching for meteorites.

Harvey H. Nininger said the one man-made tool responsible for more meteorite discoveries in the United States than any other was ... the plow. The Nininger Meteorite Collection, some of which is displayed at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, Oregon, is an excellent example of the many different varieties of meteorites currently known.

The Willamette Meteorite, found in 1903 by Ellis Hughes, did not fall in Oregon originally. According to Dick Pugh who is associated with the PSU Meteorite Laboratory, the Willamette probably made its way to Oregon via a large iceberg during the so-called Bretz Floods. The Bretz Floods were caused by Lake Missoula breaking multiple times over a 15,000 year period during the last Ice Age. Imagine a vast inland sea held back by a 2500 foot tall ice dam. Sometimes the dam breaks, flooding everything downstream. Grand Coulee, Washington, was one of the dry waterfalls caused by these ice dam breaks.

And lastly, at least some meteorites are quite valuable. In October, 2008 a 29.5-pound piece of the Willamette Meteorite was offered for sale in New York City. It was pulled before the sale ended, because the "owner" wanted $1.1-$1.3 million for the piece. But it may not have been his to sell. Under NAGPRA, the Willamette Meteorite was returned to the Grand Ronde Tribe by the U.S. Supreme Court, in late 2008, I believe. As a portion of the original Willamette Meteorite, that piece probably also belongs now to the Grand Ronde Tribe, even though the current holder of the chunk traded a piece of Lunar meteorite for the fragment. Before the bidding ended, there were 2 bids of $300,000 each, which works out to $10,000/lb. That does not appear from recent meteorite sales. True, many meteorites currently offered for sale on Ebay and elsewhere are selling for much less. But these sales are typically from much more common meteorite falls such as Sikhote, where several tons of meteoritical material have been recovered.

 

[savant365]

Here are a couple of links you might like, try to use google and see if there have been any found near your area. Good luck,

HH Charlie

http://www.meteoritesusa.com/how-to-find-meteorites.htm

http://www.meteoritesusa.com/where-to-find-meteorites.htm

http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/