[meteorite-list] Meteoritewrongs and Fossil Footprintwrongs
Peter Davidson
P.Davidson at nms.ac.uk
Fri Aug 7 08:47:29 EDT 2009
Paul and everyone
If I had a Dollar, Pound or Euro for every meteorwrong I have had to deal over the years I could probably have comfortably retired by now. But they are actually useful, well sometimes. I was contacted by someone who thought they had found a meteorite in a stone wall on one of the Orkney Islands. Ever hopeful, I asked him to send me some photos to see if I could make some initial assessments. He very kindly did and, well you can probably guess the outcome, it clearly wasn't a meteorite but some kind of iron slag. However, I passed the images to our archaeologists who were very interested because it was perhaps evidence of early iron working from an area were none had been recorded from previously.
As they say as one door closes another one opens!
Cheers
Peter Davidson
Curator of Minerals
National Museums Collection Centre
National Museums Scotland
242 West Granton Road
Edinburgh
EH5 1JA
Phone: +44 131 247 4283
p.davidson at nms.ac.uk
www.nms.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Paul
Sent: 07 August 2009 13:25
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteoritewrongs and Fossil Footprintwrongs
Dear Friends,
Just as newspapers have a habit of reporting all sorts of fanciful and questionable
stories about meteoritewrongs, they also have a habit of reporting stories about
fossil “footprintwrongs” without really taking the time and trouble to verify their
validity. The latest pseudofossil to make the news comes from British
Mysterious footprint found in Hudson's Hope, Energeticcity.ca - Aug 4, 2009
http://www.energeticcity.ca/fortstjohn/news/08/04/09/mysterious-footprint-found-hudsons-hope
Forgotten footstep? Prince George Citizen, August 5, 2009
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090805206197/local/news/forgotten-footstep.html
Did gardener find fossilized footprint? by Susan Lazaruk, The Province, August 7, 2009.
http://www.theprovince.com/technology/gardener+find+fossilized+footprint/1864762/story.html
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.theprovince.com/technology/gardener+find+fossilized+footprint/1864762/1865689.bin
Is Bigfoot's footprint preserved in stone? Calgary Herald, August 6, 2009
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Bigfoot+footprint+preserved+stone/1864077/story.html
The alleged footprint is just part of a rock that weathered and eroded faster than
the material surrounding it. This resulted in a depression that vaguely looks like a
footprint. It must have been a very slow news day.
Paleontologists and geologists are plagued with pseudofossils just as much as
people collecting and studying meteorites are plagued with meteorwrongs. Each
year, I get numerous ones. However, as they say, a person has kiss a lot of frogs
before they find either the prince or princess.
Best Regards,
Paul Heirnich
______________________________________________
http://www.meteoritecentral.com
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Free Fringe music. Celebrate Homecoming at the National Museum of Scotland 8-30 August. www.nms.ac.uk/music
National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130
This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Museums Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
More information about the Meteorite-list
mailing list