Meteorite Times Magazine

Contents Paul Harris

Featured Articles

Accretion Desk by Martin Horejsi Jim’s Fragments by Jim Tobin Meteorite Market Trends by Michael Blood Bob’s Findings by Robert Verish Micro Visions by John Kashuba Norm’s Tektite Teasers by Norm Lehrman Mr. Monning’s Collection by Anne Black IMCA Insights by The IMCA Team Meteorite of the Month by Editor Tektite of the Month by Editor

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Book Notice: Meteorite: Nature and Culture by Maria Golia Martin Horejsi

http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/M/bo22258162.html For over three decades I have been collecting, studying and writing about meteorites from the perspective of their impact on culture, society and science. So I’m more than a little excited about this book. Golia blends the magic of meteorites across time and ownership. The book is filled with stories, example, and exceptional pictures. At no time does it go overboard into heavy science which makes it a great read for the casual meteorite aficionado. Many of the colorful and large pictures are the work of my friend Tom Phillips who initiated the Micro Visions column in The Meteorite Times.

In fact the book is filled with the litterati and glitterati of meteorites, both intellectual and commercial. The tales of science are as thrilling to uncover as the auctions stories. Whether poetry, paintings, or pop culture, Golia drills home the interaction between everything meteorite in a precious tome of some 208 pages. Sitting on over a kilo of history, no doubt that those lucky witnesses to the fall of Alfianello would have ever expected that rocks falling from space would be such an important contribution to humanities’s intellectual evolution.

It’s not very often that a book such as Meteorite: Nature and Culture comes along. In fact, pretty much never. Here’s the dope from the publisher…

Book Description from the publisher’s website:

“Arriving amid thunderous blasts and flame-streaked skies, meteorites were once thought to be messengers from the gods. Worshipped in the past, now scrutinized with equal zeal by scientists, meteorites helped sculpt Earth’s features and have shaped our understanding of the planet’s origins. Meteorite tells the long history of our engagement with these sky-born rocks, which are among the rarest things on earth.

Scientists, scholars and enthusiasts have scoured the skies and combed Earth’s most unforgiving reaches for meteorites, contributing to a body of work that situates our planet and ourselves within the vastness of the universe. Prized for their strange and otherworldly qualities, meteorites are both collectibles and commodities, art objects and the objects of artists’ desires, while ‘meteorite hunting’ is an adventurous, lucrative profession for some and an addictive hobby for thousands of others.

This richly illustrated, wide-ranging account surveys the place of meteoritic phenomena in science, myth, art, literature and popular culture. Appealing to anyone interested in interplanetary space, in the uncanny and the marvelous, Meteorite explores the ancient, lasting power of the meteorite to inspire and awe.”

As a paperback, the retail price of $24.95 might seem on the high side compared to Richard Norton’s Rocks From Space 2ed. or Caroline Smith’s recent book Meteorites, the books is well worth it. Not as hard-fact filled as RFS, but if you want to understand the landscape of meteorites in the 21st century, then Golia’s book is your one-stop-shop to get you up to speed. But then again, with the inflation of out- of-print meteorite book prices, you would be happy to pay the $25 now than the $100 used price a few years in the future.

Meteorites are crying for attention, and have have been for centuries. Many have listened, but then muted the message when trying to broadcast the information to a wider audience. the but not since Christopher Cokinos painted his picture back in 2009 with his “epic journey” of meteorites in his thick book The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars, has there been an attempt to sell the magic of meteorites to the very public that his been infinitely affected the the rocks from space that fall into our lives every year. Meteorites: Nature and Culture is the next chapter in our collective journey where the humble meteorite has brought us together for better or worse.

Until next time…. Meteorite Times Magazine

The 20th Anniversary Gold Basin Meteorite Celebration James Tobin

Jim Kriegh finding a Gold Basin meteorite with his metal detector in 1998. Photo by Richard Norton

The History

Shown above is a 20.07 gram Gold Basin meteorite from this writer’s collection with an unusual metal inclusion, it has the normal ancient exterior appearance.

Twenty years ago Jim Kriegh found the first meteorites at Gold Basin, Arizona while prospecting for gold in Hualapai Wash. He had the stones identified and confirmed as space rocks. For the next two years or so the area was systematically hunted by Jim Kriegh and Twink Monrad and John Blennert to determine the extent of the strewnfield in cooperation with the University of Arizona. They received special permission to hunt in the Lake Mead Recreational Area and those meteorites were sent away to the Smithsonian. Going to the strewnfield month by month for two years revealed that the strewnfield was of enormous size. We now know that it is even far larger extending beyond Lake Mead into Nevada and having personally found a Gold Basin meteorite far to the south it is truly a huge strewnfield. Gold Basin meteorites have also been on Earth for a very long time. It was thought years ago that they might have arrived millions of years ago during the Wisconsin Glaciation. But new technology and techniques set a time-frame of 10,000 to 15,000 years ago for the fall. The Gold Basin area has from nearly the start been a Gordian Knot to unravel. While many are L4 Chondrites some were early on being classified as L5 and L6 with solo meteorites as would be expected mixed into such a large area. Today with a dozen different meteorite names in the area it is still a confusing situation. So questions remain today about the relationship of all these old meteorites of varying classifications. Are they part of just one huge fall of perhaps a brecciated mass? Or were there actually a dozen or so falls on the same plot of land. Hunting continues and finds continue to be made. The area is filled with “hot rocks” that are iron mineral rich and set off metal detectors. These Hot Rocks were what originally made finding meteorites a little easier. The gold prospectors would get a hit on a meteorite and dig the spot but finding what they thought was just another hot rock threw it aside by the hole and moved on to hunt gold. After the recognition of the hot rocks being meteorites many were found still lying near the numerous holes from the past. Gold Basin has been a challenging place to hunt. Three trips in the past with just a single meteorite found. What will this fourth trip yield?

Before The Event

I begin this article while I am in the packing and getting things together stage of the trip. It has been a long time since I have been dry camping just out in the desert with no facilities. Paul and I used to do it all the time with the first astronomy club where we met. But for the last 20 years he has had an RV and I have gone to places with at least water and electricity if I went camping alone.

But the Gold Basin 20th Anniversary Celebration was being held out in the desert with nothing in the way of amenities. Like an island; if you don’t bring it with you then you don’t have it. I had to get all the camping equipment out and clean it up. I had a fire the last time I used a Coleman stove and I am not referring to the normal fire it is supposed to make. This was billowing orange flames lapping into the camper as I used it on the tailgate of my truck. I turned off the valve but the fire did not stop so I grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out. I took the stove to the nearest trash can and mubbled something like “that is the last time I use a white gas stove.” My daughter and I got breakfast at a restaurant that morning instead of making the meal before heading home. So I needed to get a new stove for this trip if I was going to have any hot food. I have eaten out of cans and done some pretty primitive camping in my life. When I was in the field by myself doing archaeological site surveys I would often just eat sandwiches made of deviled ham or canned chicken with crackers and soft drinks that were often no longer cold. But you can do things like that when you are young, now that I am old I need a few comforts. I got a nice propane two burner stove that will probably last the rest of my lifetime.

I made a list for this trip and every few minute even as I am writing this I am adding things to it. I just now remembered that I need to take the walkie-talkies so I can get in touch with the organizers as I get close if I have trouble finding the site. I have been to Gold Basin several times and I remember the general lay of the land. I have the GPS coordinates for where the camp is being set up. Still I usually carry the hand held radios when I am hunting anyway. My list for the trip is broken down into categories of smaller lists. Stuff for the truck like tools and tire repair stuff and water and spare gas can. Then there are lists for meteorite hunting and astrophotography and for food and personal items. I guess I am really trying to make sure I don’t forget anything important.

My trucks are both in good working order and run fine but neither of them is very new anymore. Especially the one with the camper. So I am a little concerned that this long trip will go well. I have been waiting for the DMV renewal form to come in the mail so I can get the truck with the camper tuned up and checked out at the same time it is smog tested.

I have not used my metal detector in a couple years. Everywhere I have been hunting meteorites has been dry lakes and I used a magnet stick. So I need to take it out to the backyard and refresh my memory on tuning the detector. I don’t usually use head phones when I detect because of a run in with a rattlesnake years ago that I did not hear because of having head phones on. But I think I will take them this trip and use them maybe. I am looking for both meteorites and gold this trip.

The Event

Well time has passed and actually the event is over. First off I forgot to take some of the items I mentioned above. A few days before the event I got hit from behind by a distracted driver and it threw me into a state of discombobulation. I forgot the walkie-talkie radios, and the sheets on my office bulletin board with the coordinates and google earth image I printed out. I was scrambling around doing all the extra things that have to be done when someone hits your car. Since one truck was in the body shop and I was taking the other I was worried about what my wife would drive while I was gone. She was returning from a trip to Kansas the evening before I was leaving. The insurance provided for a rental if I needed it but I got my repaired truck back an hour after picking Sara up at the airport.

I left for Gold Basin at 6:15 am on Thursday morning to arrive if all went well in the afternoon when Richard Garcia one of the planners and a all around great guy and friend was going to arrive. I arrived at the first cattle guard near the beginning of Hideout Rd at about 1:30 and since I had already remembered while driving that I did not have my map, satellite image, or directions, or radio, I called Richard on my phone. He was soon to arrive and I took the time to do a little hunting. Paul and I had found meteorites in that exact area a few years ago.

While waiting around John Humphries and Jana Becker drove up, followed quickly by Richard and then Dennis Miller. Soon our four vehicles were rolling and bouncing their way to the campsite by the back route. It was fun but with the sun getting low I had hopes that all would go well on the rough road, which it did.

We got settled in and at least partially set up before it got too dark to do more work. We started a fire in the nice pit that was there. It was time to get acquainted and tell stories, but of course no lies. I think we were all hopeful of finding Gold Basin meteorites in the next few days.

This is an image of my campsite. Everything worked well and even as cold as it got at night I brought enough sleeping bags and blankets to be comfortable.

While waiting by my car that afternoon for the others to arrive a gent in a truck rolled up on his way out of the area. He asked if I had found any meteorites. I said “No not yet just practicing while I wait for friends to come.” He then showed me the two meteorites he had found that day. They were nice, one about 30 grams and the other about 50. Then he pulled out a drawstring bag and dumped his gold nuggets into his hand. He had four or five large nuggets of about a quarter ounce each and two large blobs of gold about the diameter of a nickel coin which were what he had melted of the smaller gold from his drywasher. We talked a minute or two and he said when I asked that they had been found near the exact campsite we were headed to. He added that he had been out the week before and found four and brought a friend who had found a 262 gram stone in a few minutes. I was now quite hopeful of many people being successful hunters.

I related that story around the campfire and about the same time a man from a nearby RV came over to say hello. He pulled out a nice meteorite that he had found that day which was larger than the two I had seen earlier. He and his wife were there recovering gold with a drywasher from the nearby wash. They had been doing OK but not well enough to stay plus he wanted to tour Hoover Dam before having to be in Las Vegas in a day or two. They were leaving in the morning. After they would be gone only our group would be there. I went to bed with high confidence that we were in a good spot and we had gotten good info about other hot spots near enough to walk or easily drive to.

Sunrise at Gold Basin.

Friday morning brought in more attendees and my first journey out into the field hunting. I had not gotten very far when Bob Verish approached me and we went off hunting together. It was great to have a chance to hunt again with him. We discussed a wide range of topics and the politics of meteorite hunting and the problems of getting classifications done. After about six hours we arrived back from our huge loop over hill and valley and many washes at camp once again. Though we found plenty of interesting rocks there were no meteorites for us that day.

It was just before twilight when we got back and time to get dinner on and the stove going. I had only had a wonderful ice cold Bartlett pear and glass of milk for breakfast and just a few cheese puffs for lunch. Something warm would feel good for dinner. I heated up a can of beef stew and had that with saltine crackers and a soda. It was nice to be off my feet. But I could not rest long. In the very little light that was left I had to get the astro imaging stuff out and partially set up. I had my red flashlight but you can add “forgot my lantern” to the list of items I left at home. But soon everything except the camera and computer were set up ready to be connected and aligned and plugged in. Now it was time to sit around the fire and get warm and listen to more stories and tonight maybe even a few lies. The group was really a great bunch and we had a good turn out by Friday night. There were a couple dozen people by then.

About 10:30 or 11 the last couple people were ready to head off and get some well earned sleep after a hard day of meteorite hunting. But my night had a couple more hours of fun in it. I had taken a break during the campfire time to get out the laptop and connect everything together. I had even begun taking some exposures of an object that I sort of accidentally got in the field of view. I had aligned my little camera tracker and then pointed the camera around roughly toward the Pleiades. I needed to take a few test shots while I waited for Orion to get higher. When the first shot of the Pleiades came up on the computer the famous cluster was there on the screen but so was the California Nebula. So I got everything focused and decided to do a complete run of 30 frames of a minute each on the California Nebula just to see what I would get. Once it was set up the software would take all the images and I could go back to the warmth of the fire for half an hour.

After that imaging session ended I started on a wide field session of 60 subs of as long as I could go on Orion. Unfortunately I bumped the tripod in the dark and messed up my polar alignment. I had already put the alignment borescope away so I realigned the best I could and started the session with one minute exposures. After it was going I watched the meteors that were happening ever few seconds. Then I saw the brightest meteor I have ever seen. Wow! I stifled my excitement and did not wake anyone else up but Wow! It was not a streak of light but a very wide brush shaped white meteor. It was very bright and moved really slow. It dropped out of sight behind the mountain to the north just below Cassiopeia. Soon I had my 60 shots and put away the computer and camera. I was in bed by about 12:30 I think. I was still thinking about that meteor as sleep finally came.

This is the final processed image from my sixty sub exposures stacked and stretched. I learned a lot about what I can capture and I can not wait to do the same area on my guided telescope mount with 5-6 minute exposures.

Saturday Morning we had been asked to make ourselves available for a group photo at 8:30 am. This is the group that was around for the photo on Saturday morning. By the end of the weekend 39 names were on the sign in sheet. Thanks go to Richard Garcia for this image.

After the photo was taken a group of us headed down the road about a mile and a half. We hunted for a while as the group grew to include all those going to another area. I got out pretty far from the cars, was not the last to return when we were called back but close to last.

For the meteorite hunter there are tools we use and even rely upon to find the stones. If they are buried then a metal detector is indispensable. But when you are hunting and see the stone 10 feet away and say in your mind it looks the right color, it is rounded not broken and angular, it is without a doubt a meteorite and know that when you put a magnet on it there is going to be a lot of sticking. Then you reach it and touch it with the magnet and what you knew in your mind is confirmed; that is the best. To know before you touch it and to find it with just your eyes. For me that is the supreme find experience. Pictured here is the 116.9 gram Gold Basin that I found on the Saturday hunt.

There it was a chocolate brown colored rounded dome sticking above the dirt surface. Everything screamed meteorite. When I picked it up it had the heavy feel in my hand. It had stuck to the magnet but not as strongly as I thought it should. When I felt the weight in my hand I said that is why. It was bigger when it came out of the ground then I thought from what I could see. I walked over to Roy Miller and his son Cody and showed them. At nearly the same time we heard over the radio that Jason Synder had found one too. His turned out to be a whooper at 276.8 grams. All of us were re motivated to hunt a little harder.

Mine was also a nearly complete individual with a pretty ovoid shape. After four trip totally many days I had now found my second Gold Basin meteorite. This one was also so much nicer than the first which I found many years ago. I hunted that area for another couple hours and found no more. Luck as much or more than planning determines if you find a meteorite. And hours in the field do more to increasing your chances but there are always meteorites found instantly right next to where someone parked their car. We had a couple finds like that at the event. But any find is a great find and everyone who found a stone was delighted. I think everyone who did not make a find had fun too and knew they were closer then before to the next one they would find by having been there.

Saturday afternoon found us all back at camp. Richard had asked us to return at 3:30 pm because “you have to be present for the drawings to win.” Twink Monrad gave us a review of the history surrounding the discovery by Jim Kriegh of the meteorites and told us of the study they did in the area for a couple years to map the extent of the strewnfield. She served as prize awarder and name picker in the drawing and prize award portion of the festivities. Richard Garcia was the main Master of Ceremonies but he brought up Dave Libuszowski to help. There were thirty-nine hunters in attendance by Saturday afternoon. Some people were staying in Meadview at night and driving over each morning. Jason Synder and Jana Becker tied for most found with four meteorites each. Jana also won prettiest looking meteorite for one Richard nick named “peanut” beating out my 116.9 gram stone. Jason Synder also won for largest with his whooper 276.8 grammer. Annie and Tim Morris received the award for having traveled the farthest to attend.

This is a picture taken by Richard Garcia during Twink’s talk on Saturday afternoon. The award winners and event planners are pictured here in this image contributed by Richard Garcia. From left to right they are Jana Becker, Twink Monrad, Annie Morris, Tim Morris, Jason Snyder, Richard Garcia, Dave Libuszowski.

We had a big impromptu hot dog cookout on Saturday night with chips and cookies and some sinfully wonderful cupcakes over at our campsites that were serving as base camp. A huge fire was started and kept going until late. The nights had been chilly in the high 30’s to mid 40 degrees F. The fire was appreciated. There was again a lot of great conversation and story telling, and I am sure there were lies told on Saturday night. Lots of laughing and fun. Slowly though the crowd dispersed and it was again time to try and get a little sleep. I had a long drive home and a decision to make. Some of the group were heading to Franconia to hunt in the morning. Richard was going to take Annie and Tim Morris to Franconia to let them try some good spots he knew and invited me. Others were going as well. Sunday morning the coyote that had been hanging around the area all weekend made its way over to where Richard and I were camped and I took some fast shots with my cellphone. But it continued to hang around so I went and got my Canon and put on my 70-300 mm telephoto and got some much nicer close up shots.

I have spent weeks at Franconia and have found the little irons on the north side but have never found a stone. Without a 4×4 Paul Harris and I can not get to where they are still being found. Paul has found stones on the north side but I get skunked each time. So the offer of get way back into the strewnfield on the north side was exciting to me. But getting home early was important too. Richard had to be on his way from Franconia by about 2 pm so I would get back home pretty early and I decided in the night before sleeping to go down there for the mid day hunt.

Tim and Annie Morris had come the farthest for the event all the way from the East Coast. Annie found a Gold Basin meteorite as well. She is a very skilled astro imager and we had a nice chance to talk during the weekend. Richard was almost finished packing up and Tim and Annie and myself were ready to leave so Richard told us to go a head and start. We both needed gas in Kingman and Richard would probably catch us anyway. We made our way to Franconia and I called to check with Richard where he was and got news that Dennis Miller’s battery had died and Richard had stayed to assist him and could not make it to Franconia in time to still get on the road to where he needed to be going. So I took Annie and Tim out to the area where Paul found stones and I have found irons and we hunted. Tim used my Gold Bug 2 and Annie had the detector that had been successful for her at Gold Basin. As we were walking from our trucks to the plateau we ran into Robby and Robert Hoover who had been there since early. It had been nice chatting with them during the weekend. We have hunted together before, they are fun to spent time with. But they were just waiting for a stopped train to move away so they could drive home. We kept walking out further and I told Annie and Tim anywhere in here is as good as anywhere else since we were in the strewnfield.

We hunted I guess about 3 ½ hours. They did well with the detectors. They found all the buried flying metal that they walked across. The bullets, bullet jackets and the ever present tiny bits of wire kept them digging and sifting at Franconia. I got a nice chance to chat with them more. They were returning home by I 40 and were going to stop at Meteor Crater. My favorite place any regular reader of my articles knows. And I suggested that they stop at Holbrook and hunt. They had magnet canes and the meteorites are visible almost always. I heard a couple days later that they had been successful in finding some Holbrooks, Woo Hoo!! We left Franconia at 4 in the afternoon. It had rained on us for a while but got nice later on. That was my first meteorite hunting in the rain.

I was thinking that I would get home quite late and called Sara to let her know I was leaving Franconia. I forgot that I was going to gain an hour in a few miles when I crossed over into California. My truck had preformed very well and I had babied it a little going to Gold Basin staying at between 60-65 mph. But I said I might as well go the speed limit of 70 mph. Even with the terrible rain and wind I got home about 8:45 pm which was great. And it was good to be home and I had a Gold Basin meteorite too.

Next morning I got on the computer and sent some images of Holbrook with directions and clues on hot spots I had good success at to Annie and Tim and wished them luck and a safe trip. That was the true end for me of the Gold Basin 20th Anniversary of Jim Kriegh’s Discovery Weekend Celebration. But the memories and friendships will go on for years I hope. Meteorite Times Magazine

Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 4 Robert Verish

A newsletter for “orphaned” meteorites from the USA.

In my first Bulletin, I introduced the phrase “orphaned-meteorites from the USA”. I defined these “orphans” as being unwitnessed-fall Ordinary Chondrite (OC) meteorite “finds” that are recovered in the U.S., but that the finders of these meteorites have found great difficulty in getting their finds recorded, let alone accepted for classification.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of new U.S. finds are of this type. I went on to write that these U.S. finds were being orphaned from the family of “approved” meteorites for the following reasons:

1) The lack of funding for U.S. researchers to authenticate, classify, and document/record these U.S. OC finds has resulted in several new [negative]; trends.

2) The increasing trend of commercializing the classifying of meteorites by U.S. researchers has priced U.S. OC finds out of the market, and

3) The increasing trend of U.S. researchers to turn away OC finds, even when finders of U.S. OC meteorites are willing to pay for their classification.

I now need to address the comments being made that this subject is a “non-issue”. Granted, these kind of comments are few in number, and in every case comes from agenda-driven individuals whose departments stand to financially benefit in maintaining the “status quo”. But like all grass-roots issues, it doesn’t take much dirt to bury the emerging seedlings coming into the light of day.

The misinformation that is being spread like so much fertilizer is that NASA funds the classification of U.S. meteorites. Although it is widely understood that this is not the case, it only shows what Joseph Goebbels meant when he said, “If you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth.”

Here is an actual quote from a NASA website that describes their funding:

“NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. In fact, the U.S. has the most robust and productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects (NEOs). To date, U.S. assets have discovered about 98 percent of known NEOs.

Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid’s size, shape, rotation, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further into the future than would be possible otherwise.

In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers, and space science institutes across the country, often with grants, inter-agency transfers and other contracts from NASA, and also with international space agencies and institutions that are working to track and better understand these objects. In addition, NASA values the work of numerous highly skilled amateur astronomers, whose accurate observational data helps improve asteroid orbits after they are found.“

So, yes, NASA does fund research involving asteroids and the “Meteoroid Environment” (the area in space where meteoroids could come into contact with our astronauts). But outside of Antarctica, once these meteorites land in the U.S., there is no funding to recover, record, let alone analyze or classify them.

And, yes, you can find certain individuals in select university departments and space science institutes that have grants or contracts with NASA that involve meteorites (presumably to search for evidence of extraterrestrial life in them), but these well-defined projects don’t include classification of meteorite finds. The classifying of U.S. Ordinary Chondrite finds would probably be considered a misuse of those funds, so the less said about that possibility, the better.

And, yes, there have been some notable exceptions (which can be counted on one hand), but each of these instances came under close scrutiny by NASA bean-counters, and were deemed exceptional cases. For example, the meteorites were recently fallen and were rare carbonaceous variety, or the finds were “young” enough to have some bearing on the influx in the current “Meteoroid Environment”.

So, once and for all, there is no U.S. funding for the classification of U.S. meteorite finds. This is a well- known fact among meteorite classifiers here in the U.S., but still had to be reiterated by Melinda Hutson in her reply to the Meteorite-List in 2013:

(quote) “We never planned to study the Franconia area, and it would be impossible to get grant funding to do so (I’ve discussed this with Laurence Garvie at ASU — grants fund well-defined research projects that have a focused [sic] goal.

No one funds classification of meteorites).” (unquote)

(Ref: http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com/2013/may/0063.html )

The following “Bulletin” is just one example of an alternative way in which to record U.S. OC meteorite finds that are going unreported (because of a lack of funding to classify meteorites, which leads to a lack of interest in OC finds by U.S. researchers). It is my hope that this compilation will bring attention to the problem of the increasing number of meteorites found here in the USA, not only going unclassified, but also going unrecorded. Hopefully, some volunteers will offer to help establish an on-line database that will document these “orphans”.

Newsletter for Orphaned Meteorites from USA – Volume 1 No. 4 — November 2015

Meteorite-Recovery Information Petrographic Descriptions Meteorite Specimen Petrographic Descriptions: N031004 C111120 N150805, a.k.a. “MF59”

Example Petrographic Description

Field ID Number C111120 Newsletter Vol. 01-4 Location California, USA Thin-section ID Number V-W04 Dimensions 4.0cm x 3.5cm x 3.0cm Weight 31.0 grams 9.1gram endcut – plus Type Specimen thin-section Ordinary Chondrite (quite Class possibly an L6) mid-range (but very likely Weathering Grade above “W3”) low (most likely “S2” or Shock Stage lower) Macroscopic Description — R. Verish This meteorite is a weathered, half-stone, which was found in two pieces. A 4.6gram corner piece was found less than a meter away from the 26.4gram main-mass, and can be physically-paired. Although only separated by less than a meter the two fragments appear to have undergone slightly different weathering histories in their respective local micro-environments. The dark exterior of this chondrite is covered 50% with a relict fusion crust and many rust-spots. The interior is patterned in a variety of orange to yellow-brown to dark-brown colors with very low metal-grain content, and only a few troilite grains. The chondrules and inclusions are not distinct. Thin Section Description — R. Verish The section exhibits a variety of chondule sizes (some up to 3 mm), but most are indistinct in an orange-brown, iron oxide-rich matrix of fine-grained silicates, troilite and very rare metal. Although the exterior of this meteorite has experienced only minimal physical weathering, the interior has undergone chemical weathering and many fractures arer filled with weathering products. Very few shock effects are present. Silicates appear to be equilibrated. This meteorite is probably a low-shock, well-equilibrated L- chondrite. USA Orphaned Meteorite Images for Specimen ID# C111120

The above “Bulletin” is just one example of a way in which to record U.S. OC meteorite finds. Hopefully, this compilation will bring attention to the problem of the increasing number of meteorites found here in the USA, not only going unclassified, but even going unreported. Hopefully, some volunteers will offer to help establish a database that will document these “orphans”.

In the meanwhile, I will do my part and continue to gather data, and along with others, make a list of what we know to be “orphaned meteorites”.

References:

Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 1 — In my first Bulletin, I introduced the phrase “orphaned-meteorites from the USA”. I defined these “orphans” as being unwitnessed-fall Ordinary Chondrite (OC) meteorite “finds” that are recovered in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of U.S. finds are of this type. I went on to write that these U.S. finds were being orphaned from the family of “approved” meteorites for the following reasons:

1) The lack of funding for U.S. researchers to authenticate, classify, and document/record these U.S. OC finds has resulted in several new [negative]; trends.

2) The increasing trend of commercializing the classifying of meteorites by U.S. researchers has priced U.S. OC finds out of the market, and

3) The increasing trend of U.S. researchers to turn away OC finds, even when finders of U.S. OC meteorites are willing to pay for their classification.

Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 2 — In my 2nd Bulletin, I went into more detail about why I use the phrase “orphaned-meteorites from the USA”. I focused on the lack of U.S.-tax-dollar-funding and why no funding was going towards the classification of these particular meteorites. In hindsight, I now realize that I should have pointed-out that there is also a lack of funding for just authenticating and recording that a U.S. meteorite has been found. This function should never be confused with “classifying” a meteorite, which is obviously way more labor intensive and costly.

Bob’s Bulletin – Vol. 1 No. 3 — In my 3rd Bulletin, I proposed the idea of an on-line database for these “orphaned” and other unclassified U.S. meteorites. This would have to be an all-volunteer effort, much in the same manner that the American Meteor Society has established the Fireball Reporting System. This database would give finders a central point to report their finds and have a field ID number issued to them. This “Field ID” would reflect which US state and date of find. The function of this database should not be confused with already established processes of getting a meteorite “classified”, which is obviously way more labor intensive and costly. Meteoritical Bulletin: the search results for all provisional meteorites found in “USA” – Published by Meteoritical Society – Meteoritical Bulletin, Database.

Meteorites of California the list of formally-recognized California meteorite falls and finds.

“Salinas man finds meteorites in Nevada” — (© Scott Harlan 7:38 a.m. PDT August 15, 2015) — My interest in geology probably started with my father who was a petroleum geologist. We would go to gem and mineral shows together and look at all of the spectacular specimens.

METEORITES FOUND ON MISFITS FLAT DRY LAKE (P. Jenniskens, 2015) — reports on the discovery of meteorites along the northern shore of the Misfits Flat dry lake near Stagecoach, NV – Published by Meteoritical Society – 78th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society (2015).

“Mystery at Misfits Flat” — (© 2015 SETI Institute) — An amateur has discovered a trove of meteorites on Misfits Flat dry lake in Nevada. No meteorites had been found at this tiny lakebed before. In an unusual twist, at least some of those turn out to have fallen less than 300 years ago.

The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.

My previous Bob’s Bulletins can be found *HERE*

If you would like to sponsor any of these orphans, and help in the funding for getting them classified, in order to get them entered into the Meteoritical Bulletin Database, then please contact me by email: bolidechaser at yahoo-dot-com Meteorite Times Magazine

Amoeboid Olivine Aggregates John Kashuba

Amoeboid olivine aggregates are common millimeter size inclusions in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Some are amoeba shaped, some are more chondrule-like. Their textures and compositions are variable, too – some appear to be transitional between calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions and some transitional between chondrules. The olivine is the magnesium-rich end member, forsterite. It was formed not from a melt of precursor dust but as a condensate from vapor. Though formation was in an environment of near- solar elemental composition, according to researchers, AOA tend to be low in metal. This might be due to aerodynamic sorting in the early solar nebula. Still, some AOA are outlined with small blebs of nickel iron.

Typical amoeboid olivine aggregate inclusion in Moss CO3.6. Cross-polarized light. Field of view is 3 millimeters wide. AOA in Murchison CM2. XPL. FOV=3mm Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion and AOA in Allende CV3. XPL. FOV=3mm Close-up of the same Allende AOA. XPL. FOV=0.3mm AOA in DaG 1040 CV3. Partially cross-polarized light for clarity. FOV=3mm Close-up of the same AOA in DaG 1040 CV3. Partially XPL. FOV=0.3mm AOA in NWA 3118 CV3 with melt inclusion (dark) containing long crystals. XPL. FOV=3mm Another AOA in NWA 3118 CV3 with a melt inclusion (left center edge of AOA). Partially XPL. FOV=3mm Close-up of that melt inclusion. Partially XPL. FOV=0.5mm A third AOA in NWA 3118 CV3 with a melt inclusion. Partially crossed-polarized light to see through the glassy melt. FOV=3mm Top portion of that melt inclusion with mineral crystals. The glass contains vesicles. Partially XPL. FOV=0.5mm Closer view of that glassy melt inclusion with skeletal crystals implying rapid crystallization. Partially XPL. FOV=0.25mm Another close view of the glassy melt inclusion with a crystal appearing ribbon-like and frayed. Partially XPL. FOV=0.25mm Oval fine-grained AOA (center) in DaG 978 C-ung. XPL. FOV=3mm Close-up of the same fine-grained AOA. The AOA is about 0.7mm long. XPL Another close-up of that fine-grained AOA, now in incident light to highlight metal blebs. Norm’s Tektite Teasers: Telescoped Tektite Teardrops.

By Norm Lehrman (www.TektiteSource.com)

One of the more graphic Lei Gong Mo morphologies is the splatted or telescoped teardrop. The image above presents a developmental sequence (in side view) that nicely illustrates the concept without much need for verbiage. Years ago I proposed the term “splatform” for splashform tektites that show plastic impact (or flight) deformation and these telescoped teardrops were a primary inspiration for the term.

Splatted teardrops come in many variations both in degree of deformation and in angle of attack. Some show sideways flattening, others show all shades of oblique collapse, while those illustrated in this article involved telescoping parallel to the long axis of a teardrop. During the deformation, the tail is first to harden due to heat loss related to surface area vs. mass effects. As the bulbous nose flattened, the already brittle tail telescoped into the frontal “puddle”.

At early stages of development, a flattened base with an elongate tail gives rise to a Hershey’s Kiss form (second from left in the first image). At the most extreme stage, the tail may be completely engulfed, leaving only a pattern of concentric rings on the flattened upper surface to record the place where the tail disappeared into the puddle. This one would be tough to understand without the developmental sequence. (Any serious tektite study collection requires every variation on a theme that one can assemble. In such a context, the story they tell often become obvious.)

Another interesting variation involves a twisting of the tail relative to the frontal puddle. In this case, it appears that the entire body was spinning. As the thick and plastic frontal surface was retarded (or abruptly anchored by contact with the ground), the brittle tail continued its inertial spin for a twist or two. This image is a top view of such a “twister”. In the examples we have inventoried, there is an approximately equal population of specimens with clockwise and counter-clockwise senses of spin. While fine specimens of this sort are to be treasured, they are not rare.

There is some debate regarding the nature of the surface that the splatforms impacted. I have always assumed that it was the ground. The basal surface of strongly splatted examples is typically coarsely pocketed in a manner that reminds me of the texture that forms when molten metal is poured onto moist ground. However, it is noteworthy that in the many hundreds of thousands of tektites (likely well over a million---) that we have handled one by one, there is not a single unequivocal example of an adhering pebble or substrate imprint that one might reasonably expect when a plastic blob of glass splats onto the ground (as does happen with Trinitite and Dakhleh glass). Others have proposed that this sort of deformation may result from interaction with a cushion of compressed air during flight, which would explain a lack of ground-impact evidence. However, I do find it hard to imagine sufficient spin retardation to produce a strong differential with the inertial spin of the tail segment.

In this final image, we see a selection of telescoped tektite teardrops from a Hershey’s Kiss on the left to a flat specimen with a fully engulfed tail on the right. Numbers 7 and 8 have a depressed concave “moat” around the tail remnant. In numbers 9 and 10, the tail remnant is reduced to a simple bump.

While I very much enjoy the imagined sounds of big blobs of black glass thudding onto the ground all around me, the vision of incandescent glass teardrops progressively turning inside out as they struggle to push through air at high velocities is also quite pleasing. The latter option is winning me over. Extreme splatform morphologies are found in China, Vietnam, and Thailand (that I know of for sure---). To expect sufficient heat retention for plastic behavior on ground impact in a body rarely weighing over 100 grams after hundreds of miles of flight is a matter of compounded improbabilities. Combine this with the utter and complete lack of any direct evidence of substrate interaction, and one is left with little alternative but to envision glowing squadrons vigorously buffeted in headwinds. At sufficiently high speeds the atmosphere assumes the character of a very dense material. As I struggle to personalize this phenomenon, my thoughts always turn to a high-speed fall while water-skiing. One can tumble a very long ways across the stony surface of the water before finding anything at all soft!

Splatforms may well have splatted against the hard face of air. Meteorite Times Magazine

Star Poop and Meteoritic Water: The Journey of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs Meteorite Melinda Hutson

By: Melinda Hutson, with Dick Pugh and Alex Ruzicka (Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory)

In early April 2014, a woman left a phone message for Dick Pugh stating that her mother had seen a meteorite fall in Cambodia and wanted to have it confirmed. Dick called back and agreed to drive to Woodland, Washington to meet them and look at their rock. Woodland is about 30 miles north of Portland, and was about a 100 mile drive for the rock owners. When he got back to Portland, he called me, said there were some communication difficulties, and asked me to drive to Woodland for a second meeting. Dick and I met with Nary Suon, and her daughter Saravy, who acted as a translator. They put a rock on the table and it was immediately obvious that they had a genuine meteorite. This was the start of about a year and a half of gradually teasing out the information needed for classification, which was complicated by the need to translate from Cambodian.

Through Saravy, Nary told us about discovering the meteorite. I began to understand what Dick had meant by communication difficulties. The information came out in a very non-linear fashion, with occasional small details being inconsistent (e.g., directions) when repeated several times. The story we heard that day is as follows:

Nary and a group of relatives and neighbors were preparing a rice field for cultivation on July 4, 2010. They were eating lunch when they heard a “whoo” sound and thought a bomb was incoming. Nary said she saw a “breaking rock”, but no light or fireball, with fragments flying different directions. She visually followed one piece behind a tree, then saw dust “fly up” and settle. They went over to investigate and found a large dark stone (~11.3 kg) that gouged a hole in a raised berm between fields. Everyone fanned out and found two more stones (~1.2 kg and 0.5 kg).

Nary continued by telling us that someone from a Cambodian magazine heard about the meteorite and wrote a story about her nephew and the large stone. Nary started to hear suggestions that a museum might send someone to take the stones away from her, so she locked them in a wooden cabinet in her house. When she came to the U.S. in 2013, she brought the ~1.2 kg sample with her.

Dick and I explained what information was needed to classify the meteorite. The first question we had was “where did it fall?”. The answer was “Campong Speu” (Saravy wrote this for us), which was either 15 miles or 15 km (maybe) south of Phlum Ping (?) airport. The three pieces were found southwest and southeast of the large one (maybe). Nary and Saravy gave us photographs taken the day the stones were found, a color photocopy of the Cambodian magazine article, and allowed us to borrow the entire meteorite, so that it could be weighed, photographed, and cut to provide a type specimen. Photographs taken in the rice field in Cambodia where the ~11.2 kg stone was recovered. Top image: Nary Suon is in the center wearing a blue shirt. Her nephew, who was interviewed for the Cambodian magazine is in black to Nary’s left). Bottom image: Villagers standing in the rice field. The meteorite is immediately to their left in a berm. There is clear path from the top of the berm to the meteorite. Back at the lab, there was a discussion between myself, Dick, and Alex. Alex serves on the Meteoritical Society’s nomenclature committee, and is a natural skeptic. While it was clear that we had a real meteorite, Alex was concerned that it might be a partial hoax, with the stone having been purchased from somewhere else. He pointed out that the sample was clearly rusting, more than might be expected for a relatively recent fall. He found the fall date of July 4 suspicious, as it is Independence Day here in the U.S. He also found it unlikely that anyone would actually see a meteorite fall and hit the ground. In addition, the details that we had seemed somewhat vague, without a clear indication of a find location. Both Dick and I felt that Nary and Saravy were sincere. Dick had asked a lot of questions about the actual fall (sounds, smells, visuals). It was clear that no one saw a fireball. The story was consistent with what would be expected for the final drop of a meteorite. There was also the documentation in the form of photos showing the villagers standing near a large stone, as well as the copy of the magazine article. Alex replied that Nary wasn’t shown in the magazine article, and that the stone in the photographs was not the stone we had in the lab. I pointed out that the person in the magazine article was also clearly visible in the photograph with Nary behind the large stone. Alex said that we needed to get a good fall location. Googling “Campong Speu” got me to Kampong Speu, which is a fairly large province in Cambodia. There are large numbers of villages with rice fields in that province and southwest of the Phnom Penh (not Phlum Ping) airport. We needed more information.

First view of the ~1.2 kg stone analyzed by CML. The sample has a nice fusion crust with flow marks, regmaglypts, and shrinkage cracks. Second view of the ~1.2 kg stone analyzed by CML. The sample has a nice fusion crust with flow marks, regmaglypts, and shrinkage cracks. Notice the rust on the base of the stone.

Over the next several months, while we analyzed the meteorite, we managed to get the magazine article translated. Several details in the article helped provide corroboration of Nary Suon’s story. Reading the story is somewhat like listening to Saravy’s translation of Nary telling about the fall and find of the stone, suggesting that the inconsistent details were typical of the people who saw the stone fall. The second paragraph said that the owner of one of the rice fields saw the rock drop and picked it up. Nary Suon is that property owner.

The article described in detail the rituals that were performed. Villagers took pictures and saw different aspects of God in the rock. Villagers visited, burned incense, and prayed, lending further powers to the stones. They repeatedly poured water over the rocks and drank the water for its healing powers. The repeated wetting explains the rusting we observed.

Finally, I ran “8 Roach Sakarach 2554” through Google with a request to translate to a modern calendar. It came out as July 4 2010, confirming the date that we’d been given. Things were looking good, but we still needed the fall location. The article said “the village of Komwill”. No such village exists according to Google. Nor could I find any reasonable variant. The first of two pages of an article describing the finding of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs meteorite

Translation below:

The rock dropped from the sky, M. Choum Pech pointed to the spot where the rock had fallen. ‘It’s amazing the rock dropped from the sky!’ he said. The khmer people then yelled out ‘Arch Pkai!’ meaning star or star poop.

Four of the Cambodian people that saw the rock said it must be a rock from the angel that dropped from heaven. An owner of one of the rice fields saw the rock drop and picked up the rock and put it in a glass cabinet. Once the rock was in the cabinet, the people in the village poured water on the rock as it set in the cabinet. As the water flowed over the rock, they took the water and used it as medicine as they felt it had healing powers.

It was 11:03 am on 2010. 8 Roach Sakarach 2554. This is the year of the buddah. At this time the rock dropped from the sky into the village Komwill. Mr. Choumpach saw the rock drop from the sky and approached the rock with his wife. He and his wife have a 1 year old son. The son was born on the year of the pig. They have a wonderful marriage and family. His wife has a job and works at a factory. Prior to the rock falling from the sky, the wife had a dream that her husband was building a house and two ox came into the house and the husband hit the two ox and killed one of them instantly. The next morning after the wife had the dream, the rock had fallen from the sky. The rock had fallen from the sky and when it hit the ground it sounded like a big bomb. The people said there was a loud ‘pop’ in the sky and then they saw the dirt fly way up in the air. They said there was a hole of around 200 yards from people and when the rock hit the ground they all ran for cover as they thought they were being attacked by a bomb. Once the rock settles some of the courageous people approached the area where the rock had fallen to see what this strange thing from the sky was. One of the people was Mr. Choum pech. At first, he did not see anything but then he began to dig in the area where it had fallen. After he dug over a half a yard, he saw the strange rock. It had a black color and it wasn’t smooth. It looked like a chopping rock. The rock was large and weighed 11.3 kilos. He put the rock on him motorcycle and he brought the rock to his house.

Once he brought the rock to his house, he wanted to use it as a knife sharpener. Everyone in the village was fascinated by the rock and came to see it. They would come and rub and pour water on the rock. As they poured the water on the rock, the water started to bubble on the rock and they believed the rock had spiritual powers. They believed it must be from heaven.

The wife had another dream. She dreamed about an angel that told her the flowers grow in the water and that the rock was from god. Mr. Choumpach is 49 years old. He would drink the water that flowed from the rock all the time. When the rock fell from the sky, he heard a sound in the sky for three minutes and then a loud ‘pop’! and then if fell to the ground. He also believed it was a gift from the spirits. When they took the picture of the rock, they saw God in the rock. They took a lot of pictures of the rock and each one was different when they developed them. They saw buddah in the pictures and the ‘palm’ of God in the pictures. People came from all over to see the rock, including 7 temples which consisted of many priest. They all came to pray and give the rock spiritual direction. There were a lot of visitors from the city offices to come and see the rock and they all said they never seen anything like this rock before. They said the rock was from another planet. The old lady name ‘Satee’ who is 85 years old said ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before’ and she believed the rock was from heaven. When the rock fell, she heard the loud ‘pop’ when it hit the ground. The old lady named Koonsy, who is 64 years old is Mr. Choumpach’s mother in law. She announced that the whole village heard the sound for 10 miles away. She said it was very loud. She said the dirt flew way into the air and everyone thought it was a bomb and began to hide. Everyday they burn incense and pray to the rock because they believe the angel dropped the rock from the sky to help the people and shield them from illness and make them healthy. There was another old man who went to the rice field and heard the rock fall from the sky. The place where it dropped there were no mountains around. He believed the rock is from the angel. There was an old lady who was from a different province who came to the area and prayed for everyone in the village. She felt since they got the water from the rock and drink it, they are feeling healthy.

For approximately one year, Dick went back and forth with Nary and Saravy, trying to pinpoint the location of the village. This involved numerous phone calls, images and maps sent through the mail, and two more drives up to Woodland. At various times, he was told the village was “Konwill area”, “Komwill area”, “Kong Pesei area”, “Kong Pisie area”, “Prey Khlong”. We were told it was south of highway 4, east of highway 41, and west of highway 3. Sketches were drawn showing the two smaller stones in a vee-shape going south from the big stone, east from the big stone, and north from the big stone. Searches for “Prey Khlong” came up with a location that was nowhere near the highways that Nary referred to. None of the other names turned up during searches. We printed out maps of the areas bordered by the various highways that had been names and mailed them to Washington. Nary was unable to interpret what was shown in the Google map images. Nor were more conventional maps that I downloaded any better. She needed a Cambodian map, which she said she’d get on her next visit to Cambodia.

In late summer 2015, Nary returned to Cambodia and obtained a map of the area (“Administrative Map of Kong Pisei District, Kampong Speu Province 2011-2012” it says in English). Almost everything on the map is written in the Khmer script (Cambodian). There are a few places written in the English alphabet. There are co-ordinates on the map, but they aren’t latitude and longitude. We’re still not sure what co-ordinates are being used. With the map in front of her, Nary pointed out a red dot at an intersection, and highlighted the name in Yellow. The dot turned out to be “Kong Pisei” (on itouchmap.com) and a name on Google Earth that I could copy and paste into a Google translator, which produced “Pisey”. Eight kilometers to the northeast of “Kong Pisei”, Nary marked two locations as being the locations where the ~11.3 kg and ~1.2 kg stones had been picked up. The location for the larger stone had “Trapeang Roneah” (no diacritical marks) written on the map in English. About two to three kilometers to the northweast of “Trapeang Roneah”, was a location with a name in the Khmer alphabet, which Nary said was called “Prey Klong” and is the location where the medium-sized stone was recovered. She was unsure of the find location of the smallest (0.5 kg) stone. It is either to the northwest of the ~1.2 kg stone or to the southeast of the ~1.2 kg stone, but the three stones make a vee- shape with the largest at the vertex of the vee.

We were able to find the two locations marked on the Cambodian map on Google Earth and obtain latitude/longitude co-ordinates for the two larger stones. I was ready to go with “Trapeang Roneah” for the proposed name, but Alex said no. The nomenclature committee would require a more authoritative source. So we went to geonames.org and located the same area. There was a tag for location of the larger stone. Clicking it came up with the following as a name: Phumĭ Trâpeăng Rônoăs (alternates: Phumĭ Trâpeăng Rônaôs and Phum Trâp Ronéah). There was no tag for the medium-sized stone. So we submitted the meteorite to the nomenclature committee for approval as Trapeang Ronoas. After some debate via e-mail as to whether or not “Phumi” was important (it appears to stand for something like “town”, as in town of Trapeang Ronoas), the meteorite was approved as Trâpeăng Rônoăs (they wanted to keep the diacritical marks).

After the classification became official as an H4 chondrite, Nary Suon met one more time with Dick in Woodland, WA. Nary had retrieved the large stone from Cambodia and brought it for Dick to photograph, which he did on a sheet in the back of his pickup truck, with a rock hammer for scale. The two larger pieces of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs meteorite. The smaller of the two shows a cut face, where sample was removed for analysis and to provide a type specimen.

The very rusty face of the larger meteorites resulting from ritual use in Cambodia.

The journey of the Trâpeăng Rônoăs meteorite has been remarkable. After being blasted off an asteroid and entering the Earth’s atmosphere as venerated “star poop”, it was infused with spiritual powers and ritually washed to provide “meteoritic waters”. Then the meteorite made its way across the Pacific to a scientific institution for study. It took a quite a bit longer than anyone wanted to tease out all of the information needed to provide an official name for the meteorite. But the journey is not yet complete. While the type specimen has found a home with the Cascadia Meteorite lab, no one knows what may lie in store for the remaining pieces. Meteorite Times Magazine

James D. Kriegh Paul Harris In Memory of James D. Kriegh 1928 – 2007

Photo courtesy of Ruben Garcia

Meteorite-Times was blessed with the opportunity to interview Jim Kriegh in October 2006. Jim was loved by all and although now gone he will never be forgotten.

Meteorite-Times (MT) What or who got you interested in meteorites and how old were you when you got your first meteorite?

James (Jim) Kriegh (JK) I was 63 years old when early in 1992 I got interested in hunting for gold with a metal detector. I first went with a friend, John Martin. John Martin and John Blennert regularly hunted together so I was given the opportunity to join them. I was fortunate to be going with such an expert as John Blennert as he soon taught me how to best use the metal detector. As a result of this activity I joined a local gold club. One of the speakers was Dr. David Kring who discussed and described meteorites and indicated he thought that many stone meteorites could be found with a metal detector. I paid attention to what he said and started picking up those “hot rocks”. In 1995 I had several hot rocks that I was curious about so I contacted Bob Haag. Even though I had never met Bob, he was courteous and invited me over so he could look at my hot rocks. I had about 10 to show him and as was usual when people brought him rocks to look at none were meteorites. When he was walking me to my car I suddenly remembered I had a small rock in my pocket that was a hot rock but it was the least likely thing that I thought would be a meteorite so I had kept it separate from the other rocks. I did want to ask him a question about it, however. When I pulled it out of my pocket and showed it to Bob, he immediately said “that looks like a meteorite”. He asked if he could cut it, I said yes and we went back to the house cut it. He identified it as a meteorite and encouraged me to take it to Dr. Kring at the University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Laboratory. This I did. I gave Bob part of it and, of course, the Lunar & Planetary Lab kept part and I still have a piece of it. It is called the Greaterville meteorite.

(MT) Do you have special areas of interest that you focus on in regards to meteorites (thin sections, photography, chemistry, age dating, etc.)?

(JK) My particular interest is hunting for meteorites. I love to be outdoors and have spent much of my life in the outdoors. I need something to do when I am hiking around so I am always looking for anything of interest. I do have some thin sections and a microscope that allows me to view them. I don’t really know what I am seeing except that they quite colorful and attractive.

(MT) Does your Family share in your interest in meteorites?

(JK) My wife died in 1991 and that in part got me going out metal detecting. I wanted to keep busy. My children are grown and with their own families. They all express interest in my hobby and are glad that I have such a hobby. My son joined me one day when I was in Gold Basin and he did find a meteorite.

(MT) Do you have any special approaches to collecting? (Type collection, only stones, only irons, only by aesthetics, etc. or any and all that you like.)

(JK) My approach to collecting was to obtain different types. That is the way I have them displayed in my cabinet. There became too many types for me to consider pursuing obtaining new meteorites for that purpose, now it is ones that I just happen to see, like and can afford.

(MT) Do you mind saying how many locations your collection represents?

(JK) While I have my collection recorded I don’t know how many locations they represent. I have meteorites from many different countries. The ones I have found are from Arizona and Nevada.

(MT) In what ways do you use your computer for meteorites?

(JK) I have used the computer to type up my inventory of meteorites, to watch the emails on the meteorite list, to check the sales on Ebay, and to read the Meteorite Times.

(MT) How did you start hunting for meteorites?

(JK) After I had found the Greaterville meteorite, I was hunting for gold with John Blennert in the Gold Basin area during which time I picked up ‘hot rocks’ and brought many home. After cutting the rocks it was discovered that two were meteorites. This was the beginning of the establishment of the Gold Basin meteorite strewn field. For the next two years John Blennert, Twink Monrad and I hunted and mapped the meteorite strewn field. After the two years the find was announced to the public. I do have the first Gold Basin meteorite that was identified. I also have found meteorites at the Franconia Strewn field, Holbrook, Dos Cabezas, as well in select areas of Nevada. I am always looking when out wandering around in the desert. Photo courtesy of Twink Monrad

(MT) What is your favorite meteorite in your collection?

(JK) I have, of course, a certain prejudice for the Gold Basin meteorites and one of my favorites is one that I found in Gold Basin called White Hills which is a mesosiderite. I do like a lot of the others I have as many do have special things to see when you look at them closely.

White Hills Mesosiderite – Photo courtesy of Twink Monrad

(MT) What meteorites are currently on your wish list?

(JK) None, unless I could happen to find some of the Tucson Ring.

(MT) What methods have been most successful in building your collection? (Buying at shows, from dealers by mail, auctions on the web, trading… etc)

(JK) I started my collection by trading Gold Basin with dealers. I occasionally buy over ebay and I generally buy more at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

(MT) Do you also collect related materials like impact glasses, breccias, melts, tektites, shocked fossils, native iron rocks etc?

(JK) I do have tektites, impactite, and shatter cone materials from various sites.

(MT) Do you prepare any of your own specimens? (cut, polish, etch, etc.) (JK) I do cut my own specimens and I can etch and polish. I don’t try to polish stone meteorites very often as I like how the surface looks if I cut slowly with my saw. I do polish iron meteorites before I etch the surface.

(MT) Have you had to take any special measures to protect them from the environment?

(JK) My specimens have no special protection for those in my house in the cabinet or for those in the safe. I try to keep them where I can enjoy looking at them.

I want to add that the biggest reward for finding the Gold Basin strewn field has been meeting so many people and developing many new friendships. Meteorite Times Magazine

Jim Kriegh’s Favorite Gold Basin Meteorite Specimen Paul Harris

Our Meteorite of the Month is kindly provided by Tucson Meteorites who hosts The Meteorite Picture of the Day.

Jim Kriegh’s favorite Gold Basin specimen. Halfway down the right side is an indentation that looks like a heart. Courtesy of Twink Monrad. Photo by Katherine Rambo.

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Once a few decades ago this opening was a framed window in the wall of H. H. Nininger's Home and Museum building. From this window he must have many times pondered the mysteries of Meteor Crater seen in the distance.

Photo by © 2010 James Tobin