stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 11, 2016 12:17:55 GMT -5
I think I will contact someone in Geology from our local University. In the meantime here is a picture of the opposite side. I would also like to say this was found in Mississippi which has red mud. The lighter reddish stuff is most likely mud/dirt.
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Post by vegasjames on Aug 11, 2016 19:39:39 GMT -5
Not a meteorite. The surface it too rough to be an iron meteorite. Rough surfaces get ablated off coming through the atmosphere, unless the meteorite breaks up low forming shrapnel. But this is not shrapnel. Normally I wold say do a streak test on some porcelain. Hematite leaves a red streak and magnetite leaves a grayish streak. Iron meteorites do not leave a streak. The low SG though leads me to believe that it is probably some form of slag.
I think the possibility of my specimin being a meteorite is low. However the chance is not 0%. There have been meteorites found with a low SG but they are rare. Also (from what I have read) iron meteorites that have been on the ground a long time will "rust" so to say. My rock looks very similar (to me) to the meteorite pictured in this link below. I realize I am a amateur which is why I am here asking. Thanks for replies.
meteorites.fieldmuseum.org/node/18
The low specific gravity meteorites are some stone meteorites like carbonaceous chondrites, not iron meteorites that are very dense. And yes, iron meteorites can rust to varying degrees. I found one like that in the wall of a wash one time. But it rusted all the way through, which is referred to as terrestrialization, which at this point is no longer called a meteorite. There is a thread on there about part of my meteorite collection. Search for it and look carefully at the surfaces of the iron meteorites to see what I meant earlier about the surface of iron meteorites. That definitely IS NOT a meteorite.
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stonedape
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 116
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Post by stonedape on Aug 12, 2016 14:05:33 GMT -5
Thanks for all of the help everyone. I'm convinced from all of your information it's not a meteorite. So the next question....what to do with it...so I grind all of the rust away and see what's left or toss it.
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Post by vegasjames on Aug 12, 2016 18:11:19 GMT -5
It looks too small to do much with and I am pretty certain it is slag or maybe an old rusted piece of some man-made object. So personally I would toss it.
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metalsmith
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 1,537
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Post by metalsmith on Aug 14, 2016 13:16:47 GMT -5
I measured the rock at 11.5g Put a small cup of water on it and zeroed it out. Had rock on a string and lowered it into the cup so it didn't touch the sides or bottom and got 4.0g 11.5÷4.0= 2.875 Is this how you get the specific gravity? No, but it's not going to help: Weight dry (w1) Weight wet (w2) SG = w1 / (w1-w2) So I get 1.5!! I think that the issue could be one of two things (or for others to add) 1) you're taking the SG of two different substances, the outer rind (concretion) and the metal inner 2) if the rind is porous, then trapped air will significantly reduce the weight of the sample in water. Possible solutions: 1) separate the concretion from the metal and test the metal independently or 2) agitate to loose any bubbles or soak the sample overnight to get water in to the interstices
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