After four years of cold hunting, bingo, blessed with PTK "Post Tucson Karma", and found my first one, an L-6 chondrite.
So, I really feel that the optimum conditions of soft dry sand with little or no moisture, and in a blowing area one square mile in size that the top three feet has been completely removed by wind erosion would have a couple of meteorites...if the annual rain fall was less than 10 inches. But, things get blurry in a hurry if the sand blows up parabolic dunes, then, half the "good" three foot zone has been buried even deeper.
One has to guess that a life expectancy of say, maybe 20,000 to 30,000 years as a rough guess of length of accumulation with out major loss of the specimens shape SHOULD yield a couple of meteorites, maybe a number of golf ball sized and a couple of soft ball sized.....in MY opinion. H.H. Nininger thought there were a number per square mile an again minus the humidity, if they landed in a sand area, or in a swamp, in the woods or a regularly plowed field.
Note that while traveling across Kansas where H.H. hunted and got the word out really well, that there is the name of a town with a meteorite associated with it about every 20 miles across I-70.
I seem to determine in my travels that stopping to look at all likely places WILL produce eventually. Only took me four years, and maybe four hundred hours in that time to come up with one.
Maybe we could generate a little PDK Post Denver Karma by attending the Denver show!
Best,
DAve F. (now aligned with the IMCA and the AARP)
N Lehrman wrote:
Tom & list,
I've always liked the sound of this quote (the original formulation was Nininger's---), but I think it may be subject to a couple of qualifiers relating to preservation and exposure.
As an exploration geologist, I spend at least 15-20 long days every month wandering the alluvial fans and dry lakes of Nevada searching for mineralized float (and, unofficially, meteorites!). Some of the remote dry lakes are almost certainly unsearched, and can cover many square miles. Putting along on my ATV, I can give a reasonably large area a pretty decent search. After several years of this, still NO cold finds.
I think the point may be that there's a pretty good chance that stones have at some point fallen on most any square mile of earth's surface. However, in most areas, survival times are short. In many areas, erosion has erased the record. In other areas, deposition has buried every trace.
From the cosmic perspective, every square mile is created equal, but for usgrunts on the ground, that's far from the case. Some square miles are just right. Most are not.
These are the ruminations of a fevered brain stumbling across the burning alkali flats, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm very curious to hear what others (Robert V.?) have to say on this.
Cheers
Norm Lehrman ( http://TektiteSource.com )
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom aka James Knudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "meteorite-list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 8:46 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Cold hunting?
thatHello List, Two years ago today, Bernd pauli posted " [meteorite-list] Arizona Meteorite Hunters." It quoted Twink Monrad as saying;
"I firmly believe that if a person were to go over any square mile, time after time, anywhere in the world, they'd also eventually find meteorites,"
How many list members agree with this statement? From what I have read, I have always believed it. There is a one mile square field near my house
hadis pretty well left alone. I have hunted it many times, both with my hawk and metal detector. I have not found anything yet with the detector, but
plenty of success on rabbits with my hawk. If the above statement istrue,
I figure I will find something eventually, I hope. I have learned that hunting one square mile is not an easy task. Any suggestions on hunting a cold area this big? Should you use a detector? Thanks, Tom Peregrineflier <>< The proudest member of the IMCA 6168
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