Is this possibly a meteorite?

[jrwill56]

I found this several years ago in a field in eastern North Carolina It was 2" long when I had it analyzed. they say it is 98% manganese, with traces of iron, and mercury. it weighs 3.8 ounces was covered in a heavy coat of soot. I know that most of the manganese on earth came from space and is not normally in this for in the US.

what was so odd was this field has been farmed since the 1700s and the piece had no signs of plow marks.

 

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[Red-Coat]

Sadly no.

"98% manganese, with traces of iron, and mercury" takes it completely outside any possible meteorite composition.

I would assume it to be a terrestrial manganese nodule or something industrial.


The native metallic components of meteorites are generally in the region of 6-20% nickel (higher in the metal from stony meteorites), with most of the rest as iron. There may be cobalt in amounts up to about 2%, copper in amounts up to about 0.02%, plus traces of manganese and tin. Anything else will usually be in parts per million, or present as non-native compounds.

 

[jrwill56]

any Idea how it may have gotten in this field 50 miles inland and no industry?

 

[Terry Soloman]

https://sites.wustl.edu/meteoritesite/items/chemical-composition-of-meteorites/

Four uses of manganese are:

• It is an important raw material in the iron and steel industry as it is used for hardening steel and prevents it from rusting.
• It is used in dry cell batteries.
• It is used in forming many alloys.
• It is used in chemical, glass and electrical industries.

 

[Art_Blade]

I found this several years ago in a field in eastern North Carolina It was 2" long when I had it analyzed. they say it is 98% manganese, with traces of iron, and mercury. it weighs 3.8 ounces was covered in a heavy coat of soot. I know that most of the manganese on earth came from space and is not normally in this for in the US.

what was so odd was this field has been farmed since the 1700s and the piece had no signs of plow marks.

Looks like manganese ore.
Manganese ore is mined not only on the ground, but also under water. This is mainly done by the United States and Japan, which don't have large reserves in a dry territory.