Roo Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Was wondering how a person can tell if they ever found one of those? I sometimes have watched the TV show where they hunt for them and some look just like bits of old iron. It got me thinking that over the years I might have found some but thought they were just iron and thrown them away! How on earth can you tell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Roo, for some reason I can't copy an paste so do a search for University of New Mexicothey have a good page with the info you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredm Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Meteorlab.com is one resource...If you find a stone or stoney/iron it is fairly easy to id...a solid iron requires a nickel test or etching...Books by O Richard Norton will explain completely...For ordinary chrondrites file a bit off the least attractive side and look for bits of nickel/iron that is a positive...there are several meteorite forums with tons of info...fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Roo you probably have tossed some down yer way !!!!!!!Get a quick education on em like Fred suggestedRocks from space and field guide to meteors and meteorites both books by O. Richard Norton can be had reasonably from the web an bookstores.Hapy Huntn mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks guys. Next time I think iv found one ill check before I throw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubstake1 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hey ROO, in Calif, you throw it up against the car, tell to spread its legs, and put its hands behind its back, and then ask for an ID! Ha! Ha! Grubstake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 In Victoria they shoot first and ask questions later. (Officer) "Whats your name son? I SAID WHATS YOUR NAME? YOU LISTENING TO ME YOU FERAL INGRATE?,,.. kick kick" (Rookie) "Er, sarge, he aint movin!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubstake1 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Sounds about right for here also. Grubstake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted February 7, 2014 Report Share Posted February 7, 2014 Roo I threw away a lot of hot rocks when I first started huntin. And then I heard about meteorites. I recommend "O Richard Norton's books' full of pictures of them and loaded with info about them. AzNuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted February 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Thanks for the tips and info. Yeah Bob, I wonder how many I cursed at and threw away too when I started. Now ill probably be just getting shards and chunks of iron and holding onto them like they were gold. "yeah, im sure this is one, what a beauty!" Actually once I was detecting and saw a few recent detector holes. On the tops of the dirt piles were bits of iron and steel. The person had placed them back on top. This was when I was using a VLF. I scanned the first few in disc and they showed iron, but one showed a different reading. I checked it out and it was a 3 g bit of gold covered in ironstone. Poor guy had left it for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Done the same thing Roo , here is another good one. We have a place here called Gold Basin. people were digging up all these iron hot rocks years ago and just leaving them on the mounds. Turns out it was a strewn field of meteorites. someone finally tested one of them and once the word got out it was like a gold rush of pre-dug meteorites. AzNuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Seeker Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Roo, for some reason I can't copy an paste so do a search for University of New Mexicothey have a good page with the info you want. Here's the link I think Frank wanted to post.http://epswww.unm.edu/iom/ident/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted February 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Thanks Gold Seeker for that link. Ha Bob that would have been funny to see. Iv noticed though everyone, as Iv looked into them more that watching that show can give the wrong impression as to the worth of them. On that show they get one and go "oh, that's gotta be worth $1500 for that one, this's gotta be ten grand for sure". So you think that all meteorites are worth a fortune, well I did to start with watching that. But im guessing only the ones from a significant meteor strike, a famous one with a name or history, or special event are the dollar getters? That's the impression im getting now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Seeker Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Roo, The value of a meteorite is based on it's rarity/type, size would also be a determining factor, rare and big is BIG $. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredm Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Roo, the meteorite men and all those treasure shows inflate the value of every find...Generally speaking A Lunar, A planetary, a carbon, a iron, a pallasite/messiderite are very valuble and of course extremely rare-especially new falls or finds...any new fall/find has value until the market is saturated...If you have more than a casual curiosity send me a pm and I will relay some meteoite specific sites to you...or just do a search for meteorite forums...fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted February 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Thanks Fred. Where I am there are not many, very few, known impact areas so ones found by prospectors are usually rare unexpected finds.Though I don't doubt heaps were found in the early VLF days and discarded as junk. If we had some good areas known for them I would for sure go out of my way to hunt them but there's nothing really where I am. So I really wanted to know how to tell if I did find one by chance which I may have done in the past but mistaken for junk. And yeah, Im now convinced those guys on that show play it up a fair bit after looking for what they are worth, spose they gotta make it look good even if they BS a bit here and there huh! Hate that type of TV, think i'll give them a miss in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredm Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Well, if you go to Bathhurst Observatory ( Ray Pickard) they have a meteorite display...and you might see a chrondrite found by annonomous...in 1010 while hunting gold...Anyway, the meteorite men has some very good and worthwhile parts to their show-but it is television so they have to ham-it-up...for the producers and public...best wishesfred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Roo Most metorite finds are very old falls. In many cases the more age means more weathering or terrestrialization. once the entry skin or fusion crust on the outside of meteorite that is formed by Hi speed and friction resulting in high heat and a melting of its surface on entry into our atmosphere is compromised by impact or exposure to air, rain, freezing, oxidizing, bleaching,leaching from acidic compounds even natural abrasion, the weathering begins. The stone begins to loose its value to both science and collectors.or when large amounts of them are available from large strewn fields of them caused by large meteors coming in and exploding. This is why fresh or recent falls or even single falls are worth so much more than early falls. size and type is also important not unlike gold. I've found stones (meteorites) right on the surface that were so old, here on earth for tens of millions of years and were exposed by wind, rain and mountain uplift, natural erosion or laying on ancient sea or lake-beds and weathered so bad they just crumble in your hand. just rotten decomposed almost completely altered rock. and not worth much. As far as the TV shows, Its all about drama. Drama sells. no different then some of the gold reality shows. AzNuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Yeah, come to think of it, funny how everything they find is worth big $$$. Don't think I ever saw them go "nah, this ones not worth a cent". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://img4.joyreactor.com/pics/post/gif-meteor-569924.gif This video clip from Feb. 15 2013 shows the breakup of a meteor over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk resulting in a strewn field of fragments that covered many miles. If you look close, right after the blast you can see thousands of fragments even flying backwards to the left in a burst, and a good example of how strewn meteorite fields are created. this meteor was estimated to weigh around 12,000–13,000 metric tonnes before it exploded. The largest-discovered fragment of the Russian meteorite so far, weighing around 570 kilograms or about a half ton, has been lifted from the bed of Lake Chebarkul in the Urals. tests of recovered fragments indicate it is a rare type of stuck-together space rock known as LL chondrite. other than the type of meteor this event is not a lot different than the 1908 Tunguska blast. another thing to point out is like the Tunguska fall because of the size of this fall, unless the fragment is large the market will become saturated with them real fast. now I'm not saying that hunting a large well known strewn falls is a waste of time, its still fun and a great way to find your own space rock and you could find a large one. also get permission to hunt or you could risk loosing your find(s). as a general rule meteorites belong to the land owner, State, Federal or Private.Take care and have fun.AzNuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.