[meteorite-list] Palmer rock

Göran Axelsson axelsson at acc.umu.se
Thu Mar 26 17:49:46 EDT 2009


I would guess a metamorph diabase heavily weathered. It could also be a 
sedimentary rock of some kind, hard to tell without having a piece of it 
in my hand. Nothing interesting, put it in the garden.

If it was laying on top of the snow it couldn't have come from the sky. 
I would have either shattered on impact or created an impact pit. I 
can't see any crust, just weathered iron bearing stone with a surface of 
mixed iron hydroxides and oxides (i.e. rust).

Even if you don't find any similar rocks in the vicinity it doesn't mean 
anything. You said it yourself, "the top 100 feet of soil is galcial 
moraine." so it could have come from anywhere.

It's time for a reality check, you have discarded a number of various 
meteorite classes, try the same thing for every rock type found in 
Alaska and you will get a long list of rocks it could be. If you don't 
want to do it then you already suspect it is not a meteorite but don't 
want to shatter your dream.

Probably not what you wanted to hear after investing so much in EDS and 
other research, but you asked for my opinion.

You are welcome to Sweden, I can probably find a similar rock within 30 
minutes walk from my home.

Regards, Göran

Horace Heffner wrote:
> I am new to this list and rock collecting in general. This is my first 
> experience trying to pin down whether a rock is a meteor or not.  I 
> must say, the experience is quite engrossing!
>
> I realize my "find" is not likely a meteorite, but it is large enough 
> that it seemed worthwhile to spend some of my time to find out. A 
> write-up plus photos of what has been done so far, and my preliminary 
> conclusions, are here:
>
> http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/RockPhotos/Rock.pdf
>
> Any advice or criticism appreciated.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Horace Heffner
> http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
>
>
>
>
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