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Chico
Trad climber
Mt. Shasta, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 11, 2007 - 02:55am PT
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Nice Russ! Gem porn...
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 11, 2007 - 03:04am PT
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Batrock,
Sure no problem.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Apr 11, 2007 - 03:10am PT
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I just sent them to th eemail in your profile
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Apr 11, 2007 - 03:47am PT
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Klimmer,
Just from looking on Ebay it would seem mine are a pretty run of the mill iron meteorite. I have about 6 of them and most are softball size.
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L
climber
The Rebel L Gang
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Apr 11, 2007 - 12:51pm PT
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Cool shot, Weschrist. And I would think being a field geologist would be one of the greatest jobs in the world.
Russ--I'd seen a couple of those pretties when you lived at the Yolder in Rovana...but OMG! that's an amazing collection! Definitely rock porn.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 11, 2007 - 06:08pm PT
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Batrock,
I’ve finally looked at the images you sent me.
First of all what do you know about the history of these (possible) meteorite finds? Did your grandfather find all 6 in the same location in the Mojave Desert at the same time (indicating the same meteorite fall event) or were they 6 separate finds over the years? Also if you know the find location, and when he found them, that would be important information also.
From the images I can not tell exactly if they are Meteorites or not, and if they are Stony or Iron Meteorites, if they are. They do seem to have the look. It looks as though the specimens in the images you sent have a thin fusion crust, and that they have regmaglypts, and you indicated they have a lot of mass for their size (high density).
Here are a few tests you can do to help determine if they are meteorites, and if they are, are they Stony or Iron meteorites? Hey, all meteorites are unique. If these all came from the same meteorite fall event, don’t think for a moment if they are Iron meteorites or even Stony, that they are common and therefore not worth much. That’s wrong thinking. First try to determine if they are meteorites, then try to determine if they are the more common Stony meteorites, or are they the less common (but more easily found) Iron meteorite types.
Here are some easy tests you can do to determine if they are meteorites:
Do they have fusion crust, drip marks, drip-lines, roll-over edges, orientation, wind ablation of fusion crust?:
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/fusioncrust.htm
Do they have Regmaglypts?:
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/regmaglypts.htm
Are they Magnetic?:
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/magnetic.htm
Do they have Nickel metal in them? Most meteorites do, even stony type meteorites usually have trace amounts of Nickel:
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/metal.htm
If you can say yes to most of the above tests then you have meteorites.
Once you know it is a meteorite, then you need to determine if it is a Stony (most common meteorites by far), or Iron (less common), or Stony-Iron (very uncommon). However, the easiest to find are the Irons, since they are all nearly metal and they are very magnetic, but they are not the most common type of meteorite.
One way to do this is to grind a small “window” through the fusion crust so you can see the inside clearly. Pick a small unobtrusive spot on the meteorite that won’t devalue the look of it. The window doesn’t have to be big.
If it is all stony, or mostly stony material with little speckles of metal, then it is a Stony type meteorite.
If it is all metal inside, and with an acid test shows Widmanstätten pattern, then it is an Iron type meteorite.
If it is mostly iron/nickel, with olivine crystals, then you have found a rare Stony-Iron.
Once you know if it is a Stony, Iron, or Stony-Iron, then you can do a density test and that can help determine what subdivision classification it might be within those 3 primary groups . . .
Density Test:
http://meteorites.wustl.edu/id/density.htm
• Also the Specific Gravity test is the same thing as density and sometimes is easier to do (SG = Dry Mass (g)/ Dry Mass (g) –Wet Mass (g) )
The meteorite still has to be professionally classified to know exactly what kind of meteorite you have and to get them officially named. That is when the real science begins. You never know what they might find from your grandfather’s unique meteorites, if indeed they are. And yes, they can be worth some big money once they are classified and named officially.
If it were me, I would do what I can to ID them first, and send them off to Marvin Killgore (520-626-1294) and let science have their 20% cut and get them officially classified and named, honor your grandfather’s finds, and then I would keep them. If they turn out to be exceptionally rare, you can trade up one for another rare type of meteorite from someone else’s collection.
Now you are onto being a meteorite collector . . . uh, oh now you’ve done it. No turning back now :-))
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 11, 2007 - 06:20pm PT
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Russ,
It looks like you are getting ready for the famous annual Tucson Gem and Mineral show for next year! Very nice specimens and a very nice display.
I will have to post up some images of my fluorescent collection when my wife gets back from a trip so I can use her digital camera. Maybe I will post up some of my meteorites as well . . . 4.6 Billion years old and rare! How about some fragments of Moon and Mars meteorites?? Got some!
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Wild Bill
climber
Ca
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Apr 11, 2007 - 07:40pm PT
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Russ, what are those spiral looking things in the rear of the bottom photo? Gem porn indeed.
Can't think of a better place for this tale:
Bouldering at Indian Rock in Berkeley one day. (Someone tell us what sort of rock it is?). The rock is pretty smooth, so bouldering probs consist of smearing on nubs, and there's a lot of eliminates and variations. So every nubbin counts.
And here comes Georgey the Geology Student from UC Berkeley, with his little pointy geologist's hammer, and he STARTS KNOCKING OFF NUBBINS TO TAKE BACK TO THE LAB! Holy sh*t we all freaked out and jumped on the guy. Poor sod had no idea people could care so much about pebbles! Needless to say, he left quickly before things got any uglier.
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L
climber
The Rebel L Gang
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Apr 11, 2007 - 08:14pm PT
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Good one, Wild Bill. So are you saying...
One man's gold is another man's hold?
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 11, 2007 - 09:59pm PT
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Weschrist,
Now I know it is hard to believe, but most meteorites originate in the Asteroid Belt bewteen Mars and Jupiter. Not all but most meteorites date to about 4.5 to 4.6 Billion years.
The age of the Earth
The age of the Solar System
The age of the Galaxy
The age of the Universe
How do we Know?
http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/parks/gtime/ageofearth.html
Weschrist, you like thin sections of rocks to identify the mineral assemblages? That is something I would like to learn to do. I guess I'll have to take a petrology class sometime. Marvin and Dante have written the thin section bible for meteorites:
“A COLOR ATLAS OF METEORITES IN THIN SECTION”
By Dante S. Lauretta and Marvin Killgore, 301 pages
http://www.minresco.com/meteor/metbooks/mebook1.htm
http://www.meteorite-lab.com/books.htm
Where was the impact crater that you discovered/mapped? I would like to hike out and visit it some time.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 12, 2007 - 03:16pm PT
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WC,
Yes, I suppose I should have been more precise and said the parent material from which a meteorite originates from, and that it contains within, can date to the formation of our Solar System 4.6 to 5 Billion years. Some have material in them that is pre-Solar System and is Nebular (much older than 4.6 to 5 billion years ago)!
It starts off as a planetesimal or Asteroid (originating near the time of our Solar System which pulled together from Nebula under gravity forces approx. 4.6 to 5 billion years ago) ---> then two or more asteroids bump into one another and the fragments are now called "Meteoroids," and these fragments perhaps float around for millions of years. Then they drift on a trajectory that brings them through Earth's gravity field and if things happen just right they get captured and pulled in ---> once they begin to fall through and are affected by Earth's atmosphere then they are now called a "Meteor." And sure enough, some get so hot they emit light as they flame through the atmosphere ---> if they survive the trip through the atmosphere (without burning up and completely vaporizing) and then hit the ground, then they are now called a "Meteorite."
The point is, this original material within meteorites most often dates back to the formation of the Solar System and remains much of the time unaltered from the moment it cooled and solidified, and that is a lot of time and history for a rock to witness from space. They often contain mineral assemblages and even minerals that are not found anywhere on Earth. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
About the crater you mapped, I understand. Even the late great Bardini said to me once, "That my friend is like asking someone to share with you their favorite secret fishing hole. I can't do that."
We all have our secrets. Maybe some day I will share on SuperTaco some extraordinary secrets that I have about this wonderful and amazing planet that I have discovered. We'll see.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 26, 2007 - 07:17pm PT
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I finally got around to taking some digital images of some of my fluorescent minerals and meteorites with my wife's camera. One thing about taking images of fluorescent minerals, the colors never come out as you see them in real life naked-eye full emitted light glory, due to the excitation of the electrons in the atoms by SW UV light fallling back down to lower energy levels giving off photons. In reality, the colors you would see are other worldly, fascinating, beautiful and bizarre. On paper or computer monitor they are very mutted if detail is to be retained without blowing out the image.
All of the following images contain a US quarter for scale except the last one. All images by Glenn Simpson/Realm of Light.
Classic Franklin, NJ Fluorescent minerals --- Calcite, Willemite, Hardingnite, Franklinnite etc, etc:
Classic piece of fluorescent Halite from the Salton Sea region, CA. Sadly, this collecting site no longer exists:
Classic Rhombohedron fluorescent Calcite from Mexico:
Classic Calcite and Fluorite from the Geronimo Mine, AZ:
Here is a several kg fragment from the famous meteorite called "Campo Del Cielo" from SA. Classic regamaglypts (the indentions that look like thumbprints from the melting and slagging-off of material as the meteorite falls through the air):
Yes indeed, we do get some meteorites that originate from the Moon and Mars! These are for WBraun:
This is the first time I have publically posted a picture of this very special fragment from the very famous witnessed meteorite fall in Russia called the "Sikhote-Alin" that I have. There is something very special about this oriented fragment of this very famous meteorite fall. Do you see someone in a regamaglypt? Can you guess the name I have given this meteorite?
Someday I will post images of the meteorites that I have personally found. I promise, ST will have the scoop. I don't think the scientific world is ready for that yet, and I'm not ready for the attention. But someday . . .
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L
climber
NoName City and It Don't Look Pretty
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Apr 26, 2007 - 09:14pm PT
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Wow Klimmer--These are amazing! The colors, even muted, were utterly incredible. My favorite, being a blue freak, was the Rhombohedron fluorescent Calcite from Mexico...but every one of them was beautiful.
I couldn't see the face in the last meteorite...well, I did at first think maybe I saw O.J. Simpson...but realized I was mistaken.
What did you name it?
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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Apr 26, 2007 - 09:23pm PT
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cool!
Vasco deGamma? Darwin? Ouch? Thor Heyerdahl?
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Apr 26, 2007 - 10:08pm PT
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You guys. Too funny Russ.
Ok, I kid you not. I purchased this meteorite off of EBay just before Christmas after looking for a really good piece of the Sikhote-Alin famous fall, and this one struck my eye. Even with the original image on EBay I could see something special about this meteorite.
When I discussed the Asteroid Belt in my Earth Science class, when we were covering our Solar system in the curriculum, I showed the students a homemade digital video of this meteorite with a lot of close-ups, and just talked about its historical significance and all about the phenomenon of meteorites and how important they are for understanding the formation and age of our Solar system.
I was waiting for someone to say something without me mentioning it. Finally I said does anyone see anything or anyone in the meteorite? Sure enough, about 10 different students immediately said "I see Jesus."
Well, I thought so too. So, I call it "The Jesus Christ Meteorite."
This is going to be more famous than the Madonna in toast, but the difference is I'm not selling it. (lol)
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Russ Walling
Social climber
Out on the sand.... man.....
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Apr 26, 2007 - 10:11pm PT
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Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was soooooo close. That'll teach me to be a heathen.
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L
climber
NoName City and It Don't Look Pretty
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Apr 26, 2007 - 10:20pm PT
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OK, OK, OK--I did think I saw a cross in that thing, but the face of Jesus eluded me. Are you sure it's not O.J.? :-)
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cintune
climber
Penn's Woods
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Apr 26, 2007 - 10:48pm PT
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I was gonna guess that. Really. I mean, who else? either Jesus or Mary, but I was pulling for the Jesus. Those two turn up everywhere. Nice looking piece of space rock, though, anyway.
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