Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 2, 2009 Yo All...I finally heard back from ASU...I sent them photos of my two metorites I found more than a year ago...I found two different ones, about 1/4 mile apart...One had it's own little strewn field down the face of a hill covering an area 10 feet wide by 30 feet long and included about 15 pieces that fit together like a puzzle...The other was a single, oriented meteorite lying in the middle of a game trail right on the surface...As you can see, these are from the "Wickenburg Meteorite." ... Now, this ol' nugget shooter is not sure what to do with them. Cheers, Unc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freelancer79d 0 Posted February 2, 2009 Wow!! Those are a couple of beauties. I bet you were jumping up and down when you found those. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted February 2, 2009 Ron- Congratualtions!!!! :whoopie: :whoopie: :whoopie: Are they going to classify them and if so- how long will it take? Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 2, 2009 Actually, I found a few bits of the broken up one first, figured they were just metal trash and when I got back to my truck, I cleaned them off my magnet and threw them in a bush....Next day, I went back and discovered the whole bunch of them spread across a hillside, with the largest bits actually underneath a bushhog cactus patch and figured out it might be a broken up meteorite...I went and showd them to Bill who cut a piece with his rock saw to show the chondrules inside...When he told me what I had, I went back to the bush with my magnet and retrieved the "junk" I'd thrown away!!!! ... When I found the second whole oriented piece, I was hunting down a narrow gully for nuggets, but kept having to climb up the steep sides to get past catsclaw and paloverdes in the gully...I finally got tired of scrambling the steep hillside and took a game trail straight up....The meteorite was lying right there on the surface as shown in the picture...I specked it then put my detector over it...It screamed!!! ... You'll notice you can actually see some chondrules on the surface of the whole oriented piece....Fun find!. Cheers, Unc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 2, 2009 Ron- Congratualtions!!!! :whoopie: :whoopie: :whoopie: Are they going to classify them and if so- how long will it take? Steve Dr. Garvie said they don't usually spend the time to classify meteorites from a known strewnfield...Actually, the best I can figure out these two are only the 3rd and 4th pieces of the W. meteorite ever found...The other two were much bigger, each around 9 pounds apiece...One is called the "Vulture Meteorite"... I know approximately where the first two were found and and a line drawn through the locations of these two, 1/4 mile apart make a direct line to where the others were found about 60 years ago...Cheers, Unc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paseclipse 3 Posted February 2, 2009 Nice finds there Ron! If I were you I'd plot out the coords from the classified meteorites (if you think they're accurate) and your finds on a map then start expanding out from there. Also check to see if theres any secondary fusion crust on your finds and try to decide if it's a low level break up or a high level break up . Also try to figure out the general direction the meteorite was traveling. There's a good chance there's more to find out there. Good luck out there! Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 2, 2009 Hi Del...I actually created a map that shows what I figure to be more or less the strewnfield pathway...My Bro & I have done some looking along the pathway, but I'm more of a gold nugget kinda guy so I haven't put too much effort into it...If I find more that'll be good, but it is rugged friggin' mountains and most of it doesn't look too gold promising to me so I'm not so fired up to go there...Cheers, Unc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freelancer79d 0 Posted February 2, 2009 well, you can send the map to me.... :1264: :rofl2: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paseclipse 3 Posted February 2, 2009 Hi Del...I actually created a map that shows what I figure to be more or less the strewnfield pathway...My Bro & I have done some looking along the pathway, but I'm more of a gold nugget kinda guy so I haven't put too much effort into it...If I find more that'll be good, but it is rugged friggin' mountains and most of it doesn't look too gold promising to me so I'm not so fired up to go there...Cheers, Unc Yeah Ron I know your a gold guy because I see you posting in the gold forums all the time. Don't know if you remember the gold I was finding and posting last september-october that I was finding with my old SD2100. I gotta thank you for the advice on the setup because it works great! If you can figure out if it was a high level breakup or a low level break up I'm sure that will help you determin whether you have to walk miles or feet to find other pieces. There's a lot of guys that dream about finding something like you did and the possibilites are endless. Heck you never know the main mass might not have been found yet. The excitement of finding a new strewnfield would definatley get the blood pumping no matter how difficult the terrain... At least for me it would! Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr-Meteorite 7 Posted February 2, 2009 Wow, Too Cool Ron!! I swung my detector out there a few time and never did find much. I wonder if either one will pair with the first Wickenburg meteorite? Ruben Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 2, 2009 Hi Ruben...The cut slices I've seen from various sources on the internet are identical to my cut slices....It's like they all sorta came down together in the same place....Cheers, Ron Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted February 2, 2009 Here's a link to the Wickenburg meteorite in the Met Bull. Notice it's classified as an L-6.. Again- that's a real nice find. http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?...&code=24258 Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 3, 2009 Yo Del..Yes, I remember the nice gold you were finding and our exchange about the setup of the 2100....I'm unsure about what a high or low level breakup is, as far as what it looks like on the meteorite...Can you tell anything from the photos I 've posted???? Some folks have told me the "heaviest pieces go the furthest" ... If that's the case I think I know where to look ... Cheers, Unc Yeah Ron I know your a gold guy because I see you posting in the gold forums all the time. Don't know if you remember the gold I was finding and posting last september-october that I was finding with my old SD2100. I gotta thank you for the advice on the setup because it works great! If you can figure out if it was a high level breakup or a low level break up I'm sure that will help you determin whether you have to walk miles or feet to find other pieces. There's a lot of guys that dream about finding something like you did and the possibilites are endless. Heck you never know the main mass might not have been found yet. The excitement of finding a new strewnfield would definatley get the blood pumping no matter how difficult the terrain... At least for me it would! Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SteveT 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Uncle Ron, I have a couple questions about meteorites. First of all I have never seen one in person. I remember a few years back on TV there was a guy driving around in the desert with a H1-Hummer and he was towing an ultralite on a trailer. He would take off and look for impact patterns and then land and detect the impact fields. The first thing I thought was there must be good money in meteorites!! Are they actually worth more than gold by weight? Also with so many being found in the last 10-15 years has that made the price of meteorites to go down? SteveT Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 3, 2009 Yo Steve...I've been around the gold for a while, but I'm the newbiest of newbies on this meteorite thing....If it weren't for Bill and John B. pokin' my butt in that direction I wouldn't, and actually still don't, have much of a clue about meteorites....I do have much more confidence in recognizing them, but I still get my ass fooled...Took a hefty chunk of magnatite over to Bill's store a week or so ago...He showed me how to use a cement slab as a streak plate ...I've found a few Gold Basin pieces and one small Franconia and, of course, my best, the Wickenburg meteorites....But generallly I am a total meteorite amateur...The Dr. from the U of A encouraged me, but I basically remain a gold slut.... :icon_mrgreen: :headphones: Cheers, Unc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paseclipse 3 Posted February 4, 2009 Yo Del..Yes, I remember the nice gold you were finding and our exchange about the setup of the 2100....I'm unsure about what a high or low level breakup is, as far as what it looks like on the meteorite...Can you tell anything from the photos I 've posted???? Some folks have told me the "heaviest pieces go the furthest" ... If that's the case I think I know where to look ... Cheers, Unc Yeah Ron, you're correct about the heavier meteors flying a little further (higher inertia), though there are some strewnfields where this isn't the case. I think it may have something to do the angle of entry when the meteoroid was coming into the atmosphere. From what I can see in your pics it looks like you have complete stones and if I was going to take a guess it looks like you found some buried and one on the surface (pretty obvious with the in-situ pic!). As for a high level break up, imagine the meteor shattering high in the atmosphere and the fractured edges getting a secondary fusion crust on them. Look for straight edges that are slightly rounded and look burnt on one edge. If you see this, good chance there's more around. And if there has been others found some distance away from your location and your's pairs to the classified meteorite, I think it's safe to say there's a good chance there's plenty more to find out there. Good luck out there, I hope you find many more! Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dean (N.M.) 0 Posted February 4, 2009 Congrats Ron! Very nice!!! Sounds like you will find more in the area. Good luck Ron, keep us posted on any more finds. Dean Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted February 4, 2009 I notice in the pictures, the largest one Ron found has what looks like desert varnish on the surface and is rust free. The one that broke into smaller pieces shows a lot of rust. If they were all the same classification- why would one show a lot more rust then the other? Anyone have any ideas on this? I'm assuming the largest one was not cleaned up. Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freelancer79d 0 Posted February 4, 2009 The one with desert varnish was probably on the surface the whole time in a place were water didnt pool as for the rusted ones maybe the werent so lucky and got alot more water sitting around them. That is assuming that they are from the same fall. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredmason 954 Posted February 4, 2009 Pieces from the same fall will weather very differently depending on the situation the end up in...just like coins in Arizona, some will be correded and sad looking and others look like they just fell from someones pocket... the attached pic is from Gold Basin...the big one high on a hill weathered much more than the little found down in the flats of a fair sized wash... Fredgoldbasin4.bmp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger 43 Posted February 4, 2009 The one with desert varnish was probably on the surface the whole time in a place were water didnt pool as for the rusted ones maybe the werent so lucky and got alot more water sitting around them. That is assuming that they are from the same fall. According to the first post by Ron- the one that broke into smaller pieces was found on the side of a hill. That's hardly a place for water to accumulate. I guess there's other factors like Fred stated. Regardless- that's quite a difference in weathering for such a small distance. Steve Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freelancer79d 0 Posted February 4, 2009 True. He did say that but did he state were on the side of the hill? I find water run offs on the sides of hills out here all the time. Fred had the samething happen to his GB finds so I could be wrong. It could be so many things. I was just speculating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paseclipse 3 Posted February 4, 2009 Hi Steve, Fred's absolutely right about this because I've seen this out at Gold Basin and Franconia. There's a lot of factors when it comes to weathering and you can find two meteorites just feet away from each other that will look totally different because of weathering. Del Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Ron 1,292 Posted February 4, 2009 Yo All...The rusty looking ones were buried in the dirt from 1" to 5" deep, some of the bigger ones actually had a group of cacti growing on top of them, so I think they were more subject to wet ground whenever it rained...The other was found exactly as shown in the in situ photo...It was lying on top of a rocky service...So it was able to dry out faster...Cheers, Unc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
