[meteorite-list] Meteorite trip - story part 1

[Michael Farmer]

I do not think that is a meteorite. It is most likely
metallic slag, formed in a furnace. Lots of old
smelting gold/silver/copper occured in Arizona for the
last 130 years. The shape, the surface, the crystals,
all look strange, like furnace slag. 
Michael Farmer
--- ted brattstrom <volcanoted at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I had a nice spring break - visited Meteor Crater,
> Holbrook, Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, and Gold
> Basin - found some meteorwrongs, took pictures of
> meteorite location signs (where do I e-mail
> those???) and here is part 1 of the story:
> 
> 
> Pallasite
>    It was one of those interesting    days... I had
> arrived after two long days drive from northern   
> California to my fathers house in Arizona, While
> sitting enjoying    an iced tea, my father comes
> over and says:        "You can't have it, but the
> guy who owns it    thinks it's a meteorite"... and
> hands me a nice chunk of heavy    rock.
>                 What a thing to be handed....
>                 We started talking, and I got more
> of the    story, the guy who owned it, got it 17-18
> years ago from another    guy who said he got it
> from "near Wickenburg" (west-central    Arizona).
> One of the two tried to pry out some of the green   
> crystals, and then took a saw to it to see what was
> inside.    Obviously he hadn't gotten all that far!
> However, it probably made    it the easiest
> meteorite to identify without resorting to any   
> tests other than simple observation.
>         The saw cut shows off nice shiny metal, and
> the    green of the olivine is stunning. As I
> continued to look at it, I    realized that the
> brown stained pits were where olivines had   
> "burned" out during it's descent..And what a great  
>  shape!
>                 We put it on a scale the next day
> and it is in    the vicinity of 9 pounds (4+ kg).
> Cool!!!
>                 A few days later I was at NAU and
> had a chance    to chat with Dr. Wittke and then
> check the NHM database - no    pallasites listed
> from Arizona, and the closest ones are over in   
> New Mexico. Several hundreds of miles away. So, is
> it a "new find"    or did someome bring it over from
> New Mexico a number of years    ago. Anyone familiar
> with the morphology of the NM    pallasites?
>                 Before you ask, my understanding is
> that the    owner is not interested in selling. If
> you really must, I can    probably get offers to
> him, however I make no guarantee. He was   
> interested in donating it to the appropriate
> institution at an    appropriate time. (ASU - send
> me an e-mail :-) )
> 
>         If you want better quality/more pictures -
> I've    got 38 images at 4-6MB each :-)
>                 Now, what do I do to get this
> official    ???
> Pictures at:
> 
>
www.k12.hi.us/~tbrattst/Pallasite/arizona_pallasite.htm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers - ted
> 
> 
> 
> 
>         
> ---------------------------------
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