A milestone find at the scout camp and a possible meteorite

[tnt-hunter]

Before we start, I know the chances are that this rock is NOT a meteorite, but it is the closest I have come so far and I am leaning toward sending it in to be checked (which is the only way to be absolutely sure).

It has finally warmed up enough for the snow to melt at the scout camp (45 miles away to the northwest where it is usually colder than home). So I spent 2 days detecting there. Day one I found 45 tent pegs, 198 coins with a face value of $18.83, a stainless (knife, spoon and half a fork), a rope tensioner, an aluminum axe wedge, sinkers, live .22 round, the bottom part of a GOD AND FAMILY religious award, a BROTHERHOOD OF THE JUNGLE COCK 60th anniversary pin, the suspect rock and of course tabs, foil, nails, etc.

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Day two I found 126 coins with a face value of $12.75, 51 tent pegs, sinkers, a lure, 2 neckerchief slides, a FAMILY JAMBOREE pin from 1995, a 1 year attendance pin, the other half of the fork from day 1 and the usual assortment of trash.

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I hit the milestone find on day 2. I found my 10,000th camp tent peg. I know this may seem like an odd thing to post, but this has been a goal of mine for several years now. Replacement pegs cost the camp around a $1 each so I am saving the camp a ton of money and doing my scout good deed for the day.

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The picture shows pegs number 9,998-10,003 after I cleared the leaves away. At the end of the season when they tear down camp some pegs get laid on the ground like these and either forgotten or leaves get kicked over them while they are folding up the tent. In the fall new leaves fall and cover them. Next year somebody might happen upon them, but they could stay there for years. I have found groups like this 3 inches down, they were there a long time. Also some ropes come off pegs during the season and are replaced. The extra peg stays in the ground until someone comes along and finds it like me.

I have found a number of metallic rocks here at the camp. Most of them are magnetic in spots like there are bits of iron in the rock. They don’t usually feel any heavier than an ordinary rock. This one is not magnetic at all with a normal magnet. I have sent for a rare earth magnet to see if it will stick which is one test for meteorites. But not all meteorites are magnetic. This rock (top 2 pictures and on the left in bottom picture) is very heavy. It weighs 131.8 grams and the more normal rock on the right in the bottom picture is around twice its size and weighs 141.1 grams so the high density is a point in my favor. A streak test leaves a faint black mark. The rock is very hard and does not streak easily. This could be good or bad depending on which set of identification guidelines you use. It looks like there may be a light fusion crust remaining on parts of the rock which could account for the black part of the streak. Fusion crust will deteriorate over time, so if this has been around for a while that makes sense.

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The problem I am having is there are so many different kinds of meteorites with different characteristics and there are exceptions to all the rules so it is difficult to decide if I have a good chance or if I am wasting my time. If anyone out there has a lot of experience and can add helpful info I would love to hear from you. If this one proves to be the real deal I have 5 or 6 other similar specimens I have found at the camp over the last 7 years. The spots I have detected are part of 120 acres of camp and are spread out. It is possible many years ago this could have been the site of a meteor shower. It’s a VERY long shot, but if I am right it would be so cool.

Thanks for looking, wish me luck and may your coil lead you to good things.

 

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[Georgivs]

LOL gotta love those camp sites! I could start a store with all the tent stakes I've found

 

[Red-Coat]

Hi @tnt-hunter

Cool stuff. Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock? You couldn't make it up!

I’m a long-term meteorite collector. You’re of course correct that the odds aren’t good for a randomly found bunch of rocks to be meteorites. To be honest, I don’t see any external diagnostic features which are definitive for meteorites. The other thing that isn’t in your favour is that (if you believe the rocks are collectively from the same fall since they were found in the same area) they should all have essentially the same properties. Similar densities, similar magnetic properties etc. The fact that they are dissimilar to a significant extent is not a good sign.

You’re also correct that not all meteorites are magnetic… not even if you test with a rare-earth magnet. For the magnetism test to be of any real use, you first have to use your eyes and any other evidence to judge what type of meteorite it could be.

The universal rule is that if you can see visible evidence of shiny metal (or rusted metal) in something that is a meteorite, it will always be magnetic… and usually strongly so. If you can see visible evidence of metal and it’s not significantly magnetic, you can rule out ‘meteorite’ straight away. No ifs or buts. If it is magnetic then the test is not definitive. You may or may not have a meteorite.

If you can’t see visible evidence of metal and the rock is magnetic then the test is also not definitive. You may or may not have a meteorite. The same is true if you can’t see visible evidence of metal and the rock is non-magnetic. The test is not definitive. The meteorite possibilities are then restricted to some low metal chondrites, many carbonaceous chondrites, and some achondrites.

The streak test is also non-definitive. It’s important that the portion you streak is a fresh exposure and not a weathered rind. Virtually all meteorites will give you no streak at all or, at best, a faint dirty streak. Any strong colouration is a bad sign.

Further examination is then needed and for that you really need to see the interior. Ideally a flat ground fresh surface. Even from the outside, I don’t see any small spherical protrusions which could be chondrules and the appearance is not at all typical for carbonaceous chondrites. That rules out quite a lot of the less common possibilities.

The only other potentially useful home-test would be for nickel. The 3M company sells relatively inexpensive small packs of nickel-testing kits for use by people with a nickel allergy, however they’re only at best semi-quantitative. The thing about terrestrial rocks is that they are almost invariably very low in nickel (less than 1%) or very high in nickel (more than 20%) with nothing in the mid-range where most meteorites with a metallic content fall. It doesn’t help differentiate slag from meteorites though, since many industrial processes can produce slag with a significant nickel content. It’s a very difficult test to perform and interpret correctly. However, the ‘knockout’ criterion would be that if you can see visible metal and get a negative for nickel, then you don’t have a meteorite.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[tnt-hunter]

Hi @tnt-hunter

Cool stuff. Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock? You couldn't make it up!

I’m a long-term meteorite collector. You’re of course correct that the odds aren’t good for a randomly found bunch of rocks to be meteorites. To be honest, I don’t see any external diagnostic features which are definitive for meteorites. The other thing that isn’t in your favour is that (if you believe the rocks are collectively from the same fall since they were found in the same area) they should all have essentially the same properties. Similar densities, similar magnetic properties etc. The fact that they are dissimilar to a significant extent is not a good sign.

You’re also correct that not all meteorites are magnetic… not even if you test with a rare-earth magnet. For the magnetism test to be of any real use, you first have to use your eyes and any other evidence to judge what type of meteorite it could be.

The universal rule is that if you can see visible evidence of shiny metal (or rusted metal) in something that is a meteorite, it will always be magnetic… and usually strongly so. If you can see visible evidence of metal and it’s not significantly magnetic, you can rule out ‘meteorite’ straight away. No ifs or buts. If it is magnetic then the test is not definitive. You may or may not have a meteorite.

If you can’t see visible evidence of metal and the rock is magnetic then the test is also not definitive. You may or may not have a meteorite. The same is true if you can’t see visible evidence of metal and the rock is non-magnetic. The test is not definitive. The meteorite possibilities are then restricted to some low metal chondrites, many carbonaceous chondrites, and some achondrites.

The streak test is also non-definitive. It’s important that the portion you streak is a fresh exposure and not a weathered rind. Virtually all meteorites will give you no streak at all or, at best, a faint dirty streak. Any strong colouration is a bad sign.

Further examination is then needed and for that you really need to see the interior. Ideally a flat ground fresh surface. Even from the outside, I don’t see any small spherical protrusions which could be chondrules and the appearance is not at all typical for carbonaceous chondrites. That rules out quite a lot of the less common possibilities.

The only other potentially useful home-test would be for nickel. The 3M company sells relatively inexpensive small packs of nickel-testing kits for use by people with a nickel allergy, however they’re only at best semi-quantitative. The thing about terrestrial rocks is that they are almost invariably very low in nickel (less than 1%) or very high in nickel (more than 20%) with nothing in the mid-range where most meteorites with a metallic content fall. It doesn’t help differentiate slag from meteorites though, since many industrial processes can produce slag with a significant nickel content. It’s a very difficult test to perform and interpret correctly. However, the ‘knockout’ criterion would be that if you can see visible metal and get a negative for nickel, then you don’t have a meteorite.

Hope that helps a bit.

I think it does help a bit, but it is still confusing. I will see if I can get a nickel test kit and see what the interior looks like.

Thanks and keep swingin.

 

[Tuberale]

There is another visible point suggesting meteorite: the presence of regmaglympts in the upper and lower-left rock. Also the black surface could be a fusion crust. Meteorites typically have a black or dark brown color in the fusion crust. At least that's how I see it.

 

[tnt-hunter]

There is another visible point suggesting meteorite: the presence of regmaglympts in the upper and lower-left rock. Also the black surface could be a fusion crust. Meteorites typically have a black or dark brown color in the fusion crust. At least that's how I see it.

Thanks for the input and encouragement. I still have hope even though it is a long shot. I’ll keep working on it and you keep swingin.

 

[tnt-hunter]

LOL gotta love those camp sites! I could start a store with all the tent stakes I've found

I know what you mean. The 10,000 are only the large stakes used by the camp for the their tents and does not include the regular smaller pegs from personal tents. I have found tons of those as well. Thanks and keep swingin.