Desert Messenger

May 21, 2014 www.DesertMessenger.com 15 MOUNTAIN QUAIL C AFE Open 7am - 7pm 7 DAYS/ WEEK 928-927-8890 Open Year Round! 490 N. Moon Mt. Ave., Quartzsite (corner of Moon Mt. & Quail Trail) B-10, Main St. Moon Mountain X Quail Trail N Hwy. 95, N. Central • DAILY SPECIALS • Thurs. SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS • Friday FISH Special • Sat. PRIME RIB Enjoy our Famous Bread Pudding ! Home Style Cooking! By Jenn Jedidiah Free for RocksInMyHead™ Recently, we visited the famous Meteor Crater site here in Arizona, just east of Flagstaff, and I was re- minded of an article I had written several months ago. In that article we covered the types of meteor- ites like irons, stones, stony irons and the like. At Meteor Crater, it was an Iron meteorite that struck the earth 50,000 years ago at about 26,000 miles per hour and created this huge dent in the earth. The Crater here is 550 feet deep, over 4000 feet across, and 2.4 miles in circumference. The impact hurled 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone more than a mile from the crater. It also scattered many millions of fragments over a several mile radius surrounding the crater. Meteorites from Meteor Crater are called Canyon Diablo, named for the closest identifi able geographic feature- except for the crater, that is- here in the middle of nowhere about 30 miles east of Flagstaff. The Crater and meteorite fragments found in the desert surround- ing it were known to the Native Americans in the area long before white settlers ever came to this part of the continent. The meteorites were used as tools and weapons and the crater was revered in an al- most sacred sense. Canyon Diablo meteorites are irons with beautiful Widmanstatten patterning. The Canyon Diablo me- teorites have been known and collected since the mid- 19th century. Impact breccias, meteorites, and shat- ter cones from the Crater can be seen in the museum at the site. Today, the Canyon Diablo meteorites that are currently on the market are all that remain avail- able to collectors. The site and all the land around it is private land and is now closed to collection. Though the Canyon Diablo site is closed to collecting, there are many other places in Arizona to collect mete- orites. They are typically called strewn fi elds, and there are several within a short distance from Quartzsite. But what do meteorites look like? And how do you know if you have found one? While only way to know for sure is to send it to a lab to have the internal structure analyzed, meteorites do exhibit several specifi c char- acteristics that distinguish them from terrestrial rocks. To get started, here is a list of characteristics to look for in a rock suspected to be a meteorite. Fusion Crust - The heat created as a meteorite trav- els through the atmosphere burns and melts the sur- face of the meteorite, forming a thin layer of crust called a Fusion Crust. Rocks from space and a huge dent in the earth ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS Regmaglypts – The surface of a meteorite is typically very smooth, but often ex- hibits slight depressions or cavities resembling thumbprints in wet clay called Regmaglypts. Shape - Meteorites come in a variety of irregular shapes and sizes. Density/Weight - Meteorites are typically much denser than earth rocks. Chondrules - Chondrules are small balls or spheres of stony material dispersed throughout the interior of a stony or stony-iron meteorite. Magnetism – Most meteorites are magnetic because of their iron-nickel content. Stony meteorites con- tain only a small amount of metal, but will still faintly attract a magnet. Streak – Streak is the residue a rock leaves behind when scraped on a "streak plate" of unglazed ceramic tile. All earth rocks leave a streak. Meteorites do not. Iron/nickel metal combination – This is THE Defi n- ing Characteristic of meteorites. This nickel-iron met- al is not found in earth rocks or in man-made metal objects. The structure of the metal alloy forms in dis- tinctive patterns called Widmanstatten plates. This Widmanstatten structure is not found in any metal on earth. Meteorites may contain other elements such as silica, cobalt or sulphur in trace amounts, but the iron-nickel metal is the defi ning characteristic of meteorites, and can only be determined through chemical analysis in a laboratory setting. If a rock you fi nd exhibits most of the characteris- tics listed above, it is possible you have a meteorite, however, the only absolute determining factor is the Nickel-Iron alloy. This can only be determined with a laboratory analysis of the internal structure of the meteorite. The internal structure and metal is scanned and analyzed by an electron microscope to identify the types and amounts of metal in the speci- men. Of course, it goes without saying that the most likely place to fi nd meteorites would be in known strewn- fi elds. Just as gold and other rocks, minerals, and gemstones are typically found in specifi c areas for specifi c reasons, like a placer deposit or a seam of turquoise, meteorites typically are found in specifi c locations as well. Those locations are places where a fall is known to have occurred, and specimens found at those sites have already been lab certifi ed as mete- orites. However, while not as likely, it is sometimes possible to fi nd meteorites in other locations. If you choose to go that route, areas like dry lakebeds in California and Nevada are popular places to look. For more information on meteorite identifi cation, equipment and tools for hunting meteorites, books on meteorites, and locations of strewn fi elds, call us at 605-376-9875, email us at Jenn@RocksInMyHead. biz, or go to our website www.RocksInMyHead.com. If you have a meteorite you would like to have an- alyzed, we offer a meteorite ID service. Contact us for details. We also have a nice selection of Canyon Diablos and other meteorites for sale. We are open in Quartzsite at A37 in Rice Ranch from November through April, or you can order by phone or email. Happy Prospecting! SILLY AL'S PIZZA Famous Gourmet Pizza 175 E. Main St. EAT IN OR TAKE OUT! Reservations Accepted! Large Groups OK! Serving Quartsite at Same Location for over 20 years! Check our calendar! www.sillyalspizza.com 928-927-5585 LIVE MUSIC FRI & SAT. 7PM with ERN CUNNINGHAM SUMMER THURSDAY SPECIALS: $ 1 TACOS & $ 2 MARGARITAS! FREE WiFi! $1 Draft Beer 10-2 Everyday! KARAOKE DJ TUES-THURS 7PM with KEVIN JAMES

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