Does it "just" happen?

[Zyk]

I live in east central Indiana. My family has basically owned or farmed our property since before Indiana was officially a state. I actually have pictures of the field i found this "Slag" from sometime in the 1800's was told that before it was turned in to a crop field that it "was just grass land all the way to them thar trees"
The reason im calling this a piece of "Slag" is because, well it looks like a giant piece of slag, its heavy as hell and something with this type of mass falling from the sky at 15k km per second would have surely caused a bit of a divot in the COUNTY. So my question is simply this.
With no type of factory or mining ever done in that area, almost 0.8 miles from the nearest road.

How the hell did it get there??

I can take measurements and weights of it if need be to make certain its not a meteorite for you guys, as i have never had it tested or anything

 

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[Toecutter]

Lightning strike?

 

[eman1000]

Zyk,

Sounds like I'm not to far from you in Bartholomew / Decatur county. I find the craziest stuff in fields all the time so its hard to say. Yes our state is not that old but remember those fields used to be worked by hand and tree's were likely cleared as well. So you have all kinds of colonial junk floating around in the fields. Axe heads, molten lead slag, parts of old equipment - farm, pumps, buggies, etc..

I've even dug a full crosscut saws lost or broken and left in fields. Without a pic its hard to say what you have?

Also if your close enough I'd like permission to hunt! When the crops are done of course.. HH

 

[Red-Coat]

It's also worth bearing in mind that, because slag/clinker was a waste product, it had to be disposed of. For operations that were close to water, it was often dumped in the sea, in lakes, in rivers or creeks. Otherwise in was dumped 'out of town' in remote areas. Also, it was commonly offered to anyone who would take it away for use as foundation hardcore, creating embankments, as railway ballast or whatever.

 

[Indian Steve]

Could you post some pictures of it? No matter what it is, I'd still like to see it. I lived near Blue Lick Indiana as a kid. Lot's of cool fossils & relics to be found there.

 

[Zyk]

when i get home i will definitely take some pictures
I purged my phone the other day of a bunch of photos and apparently these were part of my purge

 

[Zyk]

Zyk,

Also if your close enough I'd like permission to hunt! When the crops are done of course.. HH

FYI: 90% of the property is tillable and only about 45 acres are woods that we just logged. Unfortunately we only allow family to hunt it and its still crazy out there. During deer season it seems like there is atleast 1 or 2 trucks parked out there at all times. Im also sad to say this is my only place to hunt anymore, used to have 1200 acres in Washington Co. That the farmer decided to lease

 

[Zyk]

Pictures as requested!! I also took a picture of the little piece of magnet i used to see if this piece of "slag" was magnetic, the magnet only just barely tried to stick to it and i mean the magnet wouldnt even hold its own weight and would slide right off.

 

[Zyk]

So does anyone have anymore input on this thing or anymore questions i can answer to help
1. Identify it
2. Figure out how it got there.

 

[Thoadin]

Looks like a chunk of meteorite. Is there anywhere you can get it tested?

 

[Zyk]

Looks like a chunk of meteorite. Is there anywhere you can get it tested?

I honestly don't have a clue where to begin, im sure i can find a place online that i could send it to....but i would be extremely hesitant on doing that!!

 

[galenrog]

Sorry, but your rock has no visible characteristics of meteorites. I would guess clinker.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Red-Coat]

Anyone who thinks it "looks like a chunk of meteorite" can't have very much experience of meteorites. It looks nothing like a chunk of meteorite.

You describe it as "giant" but you're only showing small pieces... so presumably you have managed to break these off from the main piece. Just how big is it? The fact that the exterior has broadly the same relatively even dark colouration with a brownish tinge like the broken interior is not a good sign for a meteorite. Neither is the presence of vesicles... and I see a couple of those. Neither is the very weak magnetism (although that in itself is not a knock-out criterion).

Also, what the heck is this?



Whatever it is, it's definitely not something you're going to see in a meteorite.

 

[Zyk]

I guess i call it a giant rock cause i very seldom find rocks this big interesting unless they stand out. I have never broke a piece off of it but i did use an SOS pad on it when i was a kid trying to clean it and make it "shiny". Well it didn't take me long to figure out i didnt want to do that anymore, but it has stayed that gunmetal gray for 35'ish years and most of it outside in the landscaping. As for that little circle mark you pointed out, i have no idea what it is. Its just always been there.

 

[ncuke]

I’d think it’s cool too - does look like a big piece of slag... that round spot looks like it could have been someone poking it a long time ago wondering what it might be.

 

[Zyk]

I think im just going to sand it all down with a wire wheel and try and polish it LOL its just really strange how a piece of METAL "slag" the size of a baseball and weighs about 2½-3 pounds has almost zero magnetic properties. Ad as far as someone making that spot on it by poking it....the would have to have poked it while it was still liquid or close to it LOL cause my 24oz. Framing hammer didnt put a mark on it!!!

 

[Zyk]

I know its pushing it a little but do you think that mark could be something similar to what's in these pictures?? Albeit not as detailed!! But when i found these little things, the first thing I thought of was the mark on my piece of "slag".

Definitely not arguing, just want to hear some thoughts on this as a possibility.

 

[galenrog]

I know its pushing it a little but do you think that mark could be something similar to what's in these pictures?? Albeit not as detailed!! But when i found these little things, the first thing I thought of was the mark on my piece of "slag".

Definitely not arguing, just want to hear some thoughts on this as a possibility.
View attachment 1859255View attachment 1859256View attachment 1859257

Both rocks are limestone, with ancient shellfish fossils, and fossil prints (a fossil print is what happens when a fossil falls out of the host stone, leaving a fossil shape behind).

Time for more coffee.

 

[Red-Coat]

What you’re now showing in post #17 are sedimentary rocks with the end impressions of broken sections of fossil crinoid columnals. The resemblance to the concentric ring feature in your original specimen is no more than superficial and I would say has arisen from some kind of melt/heat-related process. That’s not the kind of process associated with fossils or fossil impressions, which are almost exclusively related to sedimentary rocks.

I have no explanation for what that concentric circle feature might be, save to say that it looks like what you might get if molten material has taken on the shape of something it was in contact with while cooling; a shrinkage feature from rapid cooling of molten material; or perhaps the remnant of where a steam or air bubble might have formed.

We haven’t conclusively established what your specimen is, but it for sure isn’t a meteorite. A geological volcanic/igneous process is also rather unlikely. Indiana’s own surface geology is exclusively sedimentary. You have to drill down a considerable depth to reach bedrock before you hit anything igneous. Much of the state is littered with glacial erratics of other rock types which have been transported from further north including as far away as Canada, so igneous is not impossible, but your specimen doesn’t have the surface appearance of typical erratic that has seen glacial transport.

That really only leaves slag or clinker as the most likely probabilities. You threw us off-scent by initially describing it as “giant”, when it now becomes clear that it’s only the size of a baseball. The “magnetic or not” issue is a complete red herring in relation to slag or clinker. The answer is purely and simply dependent on what was being smelted or furnaced. Some waste products will be magnetic and some will not, irrespective of whether or not they look “metallic”.

I would just repeat again that both slag and clinker are waste products and so, by definition, end up being dumped somewhere. Frequently, the dumping site is not on the doorstep of the activity that created the waste and “trucking it” away from the site creates the possibility of a bits and pieces as a trail of debris along the way.

 

[Zyk]

Thank you very much Red-Coat!! Didnt mean to throw anyone off by saying it was huge, it was just ALOT bigger then the things im use to finding!!

I really appreciate your knowledge and input you have given in your response !!!

Once i get my garage cleaned out im going to put this thing up against my wire wheel and clean it up then throw some polish on it. If it shines up it will be a good conversation piece!! Thanks again!!!