[meteorite-list] Space scientists seek farmers’ aid

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jul 4 20:03:01 2005
Message-ID: <ptjjc11h60rr5gotlqqm7ql8js3nctauof_at_4ax.com>

http://www.fairviewpost.com/story.php?id=170473

by Olav Rokne
Tuesday July 05, 2005

Fairview Post ? University scientists are asking Fairview farmers for help in tracking down space
rocks.
Anyone who thinks they have found a meteorite is invited to bring it by the public library in
Fairview anytime from 1-5 p.m. on July 26 to have it identified and analyzed.
?These meteorites are quite valuable,? says Tom Weedmark, the undergraduate geology student who will
be examining the potential meteorites, explaining that they can be worth thousands of dollars to
collectors depending on shape, size, composition and age.
?Any meteorites we do find, we?re just there to identify them and let people know what they have and
what their options are with them.?
The visit is part of a summer research project headed by Dr. Alan Hilderbrand, a geologist from the
University of Calgary who has students visiting small towns to identify and report on any meteorites
farmers have found in their fields.
?Meteorites are rocks and debris from space that have made it to the Earth,? Weedmark says,
explaining that the composition of the meteorites can help scientists understand the early solar
system.
?Especially some of the more primitive ones -- this one here,? he says, holding up a dark gray rock
the size of an apple, ?is almost 4.5 billion years old.?
Most meteorites contain at least some iron metal (actually an alloy of iron and nickel).
Almost invariably, such meteorites are easy to identify because they are magnetic, heavier than
other rocks and have shiny flecks in the centre.
Many meteorites are pitted with depressions that look as if someone pressed their thumb into the
material. If they have sat in a field for a long time, they might be reddish brown -- as the iron
ore in the stone rusts.
?If at all possible, it would be helpful if people keep track of where the meteorite came from,?
Weedmark says. ?GPS is obviously the best, but a lot of times people found their meteorites 10 years
ago and don?t know exactly where it was ? those are still worth bringing in.?
Across the globe, you?ll find on average one meteorite per square kilometre -- a statistic that
Weedmark says is misleading as they tend to be found in clusters.
?The vast majority of them are from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.?
Received on Mon 04 Jul 2005 08:10:07 PM PDT