[meteorite-list] Morland meteorite (Kansas)

[MARK BOSTICK]

Hello Pierre and list,

Pierre wrote, "Does everyone have the history of the find of Morland 
meteorite ?   Maybe Mark Bostick can help as a specialist of Kansas 
meteorites?"

Thanks for your kind note.  I am not for sure if I qualify as a specialist 
yet, perhaps, a historian with good research skills.

Morland, was the third meteorite over 500 pounds found in Western Kansas.  
This meteorite was discovered by Mr. Sam Hisey, seven miles east of Morland, 
Graham County, Kansas during June 1935.  While working a farm field, Hisey 
had worked for several years, his lister stuck the stone and pulled it from 
the ground. The meteorite came to light through the efforts of Harvey 
H.Nininger.  After giving a lecture in Sharon Springs, Kansas around 1933, 
Nininger met a local Indian arrowhead collector and general "rock hound", R. 
A. Dollarhide.  Dollarhide had sent several suspected meteorite samples into 
Nininger, but none proved to be "rites".  However in 1935, Dollarhide sent 
Nininger a sample, that Nininger was sure was a meteorite.  Dollarhide had 
reportedly removed the sample from a large stone.  Nininger, being broke, 
was able to get money from Denver businessman and meteorite collector Dean 
Gillespie, who funded the trip and recovery for half interest in what 
Nininger recovered.  This was something Dollarhide had done with Nininger 
several times in the past.

In "Find a Falling Star" Nininger writes, "We went out to the field and what 
I saw there set my nerves tingling. A mass that weighed more than 600 pounds 
had been pried out of the soil.  It had been broken in three pieces, probley 
at the time of fall, but they could plainly be fitted back together.  
Moreland turned out to be the world's eight largest aerolite."

When Hisey found the meteorite, a large unusual stone in a field he was 
familiar with, his curiosity was raised.  Hisey brought the meteorite "into 
town" to Moreland, where he sought the advise of Dollarhide. The meteorite 
was found in four pieces, not three. A fifth stone was found on a 
neighboring farm, and Nininger later found six fragments himself that fit 
together into a three pound stone.

Nininger believed the larger stone was "flight-marked".  Nininger wrote, 
"...but appear wind-swept, bearing striations which run almost at right 
angles to the two broad faces of the stone.  The two large planes lie nearly 
parallel, about 10 to 13 inches apart." Nininger went on to note that the 
meteorite had "...much less pitting and other frictional sculpting..." then 
the Hugoton meteorite.

Nininger further notes, "The finding of the Hugton and Morland stones so 
near the surface, both of them in the Great Plains region, where fluviatile 
erosion goes no at a minimum rate, suggest an interesting problem regarding 
the effectiveness of wind as an agent of gradation in this region."  The 
Paragould meteorite, a 600 pound stone, and similar sized meteorite, buried 
itself eight feet in the soil.

I would note, I think Nininger was possibly wrong on the meteorite having 
broken when it hit the ground.  This seems to be a common thought on old 
finds that fit back together.  I think regions, such as Gold Basin, has 
showed up weathering, is the most acting agent in making "puzzle" 
meteorites.

The meteorite was classified as an ordinary chondrite H5, by Brian Mason in 
1966. Nininger numbered specimen carry the collection number "282", followed 
by a decimal and numbers or a letter/letters, depending on specimen.


Extra Credit:
The lister was the first significant new tillage tool introduced by 
Prairie-Plains region and developed there.  It was used early for corn 
production and later adapted to the culture of wheat. For wheat the listing 
ideas appeared directly in two forms, the lister drill and listing as a 
substitute for plowing. It probably inspired part a third procedure, as yet 
only partially developed, subsurface cultivation. The lister may be 
described as a double plow with a divided moldboard, splitting the slice and 
turning half each way.

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Kansas Meteorite Society Adminstrator, Board Member
www.meteoritearticles.com
www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
www.imca.cc