Some older (1997) from the news-groups.
pekka s
From: Keith Littleton ([EMAIL PROTECTED] )
Subject: Re: News; 17 fossil meteorites in Sweden
Date: 1997/10/11
In Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>Just heard on the news that a researchteam from the
>university of Gvteborg found 17 meteorites buried
>480 million years ago at kinekulle in Sweden.
>It was mentioned at the newsprogram "Dagens Eko"
>by Birger Schmitz from the researchteam.
Apparently people have been finding all sorts of
meteorites in Ordovician limestones of Sweden.
For example, in the October 3, 1997 issue of
of "Science," there is:
Schmitz, B. Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Lindstrom, M.,
and Tassinari, M. (1997) Accretion Rates of Meteorites
andCosmic Dust in the Early Ordovician. Science
volume 278, number 5335, pp. 88-90.
The abstract begins, "Abundant fossil meteorites in
marine, conde
nsed Lower Ordovician limestones..."
Other instances of fossil meteorites are discussed in
Hansen and Berstrom (1997). They note that the first of
the specimens was a 4-inch in diameter meteorite discovered
middle Ordovician Limestone in 1951. It was not
described until 1981 by Thorslund and Wickman (1981).
In 1988, another swedish meteorite, called "Osterplana 1,"
was discovered in Lower Ordovician Limestone about
5 million years older and 300 miles away from the first
(Hansen and Berstrom 1997, pp. 1).
Twelve more meteorites have been found at the Thorsberg
Limestone Quarry. Hansen and Berstrom (1997, pp. 3) state:
"A 10-foot-thick section of the Holen ("Orthoceratite")
Limestone, of Early Middle Ordovician age, is extracted
at the Thorsberg quarry and sawed into thin slabs that
are used for windowsills and floor tile. Quarry workers
discarded slabs with impurities, such as the meteorites,
until Professor Maurits Lindstrom of the University of
S
tockholm alerted them to save such slabs. The 12
specimens were recovered between 1992 and 1996. Ten of
the specimens were recovered from a 2-foot-thick bed of
limestone and may represent a single meteorite fall. The
other three specimens were recovered from two separate
levels above this layer. Seven of the specimens, collected
between 1993 ant 1996, are from a quarried limestone
volume of no more than about 127,000 cubic feet. Most
of the specimens are now on display at the Stiftelsen Paleo
Geology Center in Lidkoping, Sweden.
The Thorsberg quarry meteorites range in size from about
0.5 to 3.5 inches in diameter and have been almost
completely replaced (pseudomorphosed) by calcite and
barite. The dark, reddish brown meteorite masses look
like iron nodules surrounded by a zone of lighter colored
limestone and would be mistaken by many people for
common sedimentary features. However, they contain
grains of ch
romite and have a high iridium content,
among other confirming characteristics of extraterrestrial
origin."
Reference Cited
Hasen, M. C., and Bergstrom, S. M.. 1997, Ancient
meteorites. Ohio Geology, Spring 1997.
Further Readings from Hansen and Berstrom (1997) about
the Swedish meteorites.
Nystrom, J. O., and Wickman, F. E. (1991) The Ordovician
chondrite from Brunflo, central Sweden; II, Secondary
minerals. Lithos. volume 27, number 3, pp. 167-185.
Nystrom, J. O., Lindstrom, M., and Wickman, F. E.,
(1988) Discovery of a second Ordovician meteorite
using chromite as a tracer. Nature. volume 336,
pp. 572-574.
Schmitz, B., Lindstrom, M., Asaro, F., and Tassinari, M.,
(1996) Geochemistry of meteorite-rich marine limestone
strata and fossil meteorites from the Lower Ordovician
at Kinnekulle, Sweden. Earth and Planetary Science
Letters. volume 145, pp. 31-48.
Thorslund, Per, and Wickman, F. E. (1981) Midd
le
Ordovician chondrite in fossiliferous limestone from
Brunflo, central Sweden. Nature. volume 289,
pp. 285-286.
Thorslund, Per., Wickman, F. E., and Nystrom, J. O.
(1984) The Ordovician chondrite from Brunflo, central
Sweden, I. General description and primary minerals.
Lithos. volume 17, pp. 87-100.
++ Many Other Meteorites ++
For many more cases of meteorites, see,
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/dave_matson/
And go to "Library: Modern Documents: Dave Matson: Young
Earth: Specific Arguments: Meteor" at:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/dave_matson/young-earth
/specific_arguments/meteor.html
Dave Matson at the above URL wrote:
"After reviewing such difficulties, geologist Davis
Young (1988, p.127) tells us that, 'The chances of
finding a fossil meteorite in sed
imentary rocks are
remote. It is not to be expected.' G. J. McCall, in
Meteorites and Their Origins (1973, p.270), said, 'The
lack of fossil record of true meteorites is puzzling, but
can be explained by the lack of very diagnostic shapes
and the chemical nature of meteorites, which allows
rapid decay...'
It may surprise you, therefore, to hear that we do
have such a find! Two Swedish scientists made the
first positive identification of a fossilized stoney
meteorite (Astronomy, June 1981). Per Thorslund and
Frans Wickman reported in Nature that a 10 centimeter
object found in a limestone slab from a quarry in Brunflo,
central Sweden in 1952 is really a stoney meteorite
as demonstrated by microscopic examinations and other
properties. It has a terrestrial age of about 463 million
years. The object had until recently been mistaken for
something else. If the odds were not bent enough,
it appears that the meteorite hit an
Ordovician mollusk
which is fossilized in conjunction with the meteorite!
(Spratt and Stephens, 1992, p.53)
In 1930 a fist-sized piece of nickel-iron was said to
have been recovered from a bore hole at a depth of 1,525
feet, from the Eocene. This 'Zapata County' Texas iron
has since been lost (Nature, January 22, 1981).
Fritz Heide mentioned that 'The iron of Sardis, Burke
County, Georgia, was found in 1940, in strata believed
to be of Middle Miocene age.' (Heide,1964, pp.118-119.)
We may conclude, therefore, that it is not true that fossil
meteorites don't exist in the geologic record. However,
recovering and identifying them is extremely rare."
Walt Brown, who claims that fossil meteorites never are
found, apparently doesn't know what he is talking about. :-)
Sincerely,
Keith Littleton
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
New Orleans, LA
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