1,400-Pound Meteorite Found in Kansas

TheBlackCat · #1 (**permalink**) 11-November-2005, 11:46 PM

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GREENSBURG, Kan. - In an area of southwest Kansas long known for its meteorite finds, Steve Arnold came up with what may be the biggest of its kind ever found in the United States.

Arnold, a professional meteorite hunter from Kingston, Ark., found the 1,400-pound space rock two weeks ago in Kiowa County's Brenham Township. Using a metal detector mounted on a three-wheel vehicle, he discovered it more than 7 feet underground and dug it up.

It was in the same area that in 1949 produced a 1,000-pound meteorite now on display at the Celestial Museum in Greensburg, part of the World's Largest Hand Dug Well that is the community's biggest claim to fame.

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The meteorite Arnold discovered is classified as an oriented pallasite, so it has a conical shape and has olivine crystals embedded in iron-nickel alloy. Only two larger ones of that type are known to have been found: a 3,100-pounder in Australia and a 1,500-pounder in Argentina.

Meteorites change shape as they enter the Earth's atmosphere. An oriented meteorite, which is rare, maintains a stable flight rather than tumbling.

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According to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Brenham meteorite exploded centuries ago over what is now Kansas, scattering more than three tons of fragments.

Would this be a Tanguska-like event?

Swift · #2 (**permalink**) 12-November-2005, 12:04 AM

Well, one thing about finding it in Kansas, you know it didn't evolve there, it must have been designed to be there.

trinitree88 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-November-2005, 01:26 AM

Well, if he sells it out of state....Dorothy can say " Toto, It won't be in Kansas anymore."

Ciao. Pete.

Superluminal · #4 (**permalink**) 12-November-2005, 03:36 AM

Probablly not a Tunguska event, but I wouldn't have wanted to be to close when it hit.

Ilya · #5 (**permalink**) 12-November-2005, 03:42 AM

More like Sikhote-Alin event of 1947. Still, I would not want to stand underneath when it happened.

beskeptical · #6 (**permalink**) 12-November-2005, 08:15 AM

drool....A huge oriented pallisite, man that is something!! I can't wait to see it in person. I hope it goes to a museum after study.

Maddad · #7 (**permalink**) 14-November-2005, 06:14 PM

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Originally Posted by TheBlackCat

Would this be a Tanguska-like event?

Seems like I remember the Tunguska object as being about 30 feet across, which would mean it massed more than 1,400 pounds, even if it were mostly ice. I'd have to look that up again. Still, the Tunguska object exploded in air because the pressure gradient across it fractured the weak structure of the comet. Ice and snow after all is weaker than iron. My suspicion is that this object would not have done anywhere near that much damage.

peteshimmon · #8 (**permalink**) 14-November-2005, 07:57 PM

Just seen a picture of this thing and its the
last remnant of several other pieces found
1000 years ago. I wonder if it could be
sliced up a few times to get a few "coffee
table" tops? BTW there is an interesting
theory the Tunguska event might have been the
explosion of methane suddenly released from
the ground.

beskeptical · #9 (**permalink**) 15-November-2005, 09:10 AM

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Originally Posted by Maddad

Seems like I remember the Tunguska object as being about 30 feet across, which would mean it massed more than 1,400 pounds, even if it were mostly ice. I'd have to look that up again. Still, the Tunguska object exploded in air because the pressure gradient across it fractured the weak structure of the comet. Ice and snow after all is weaker than iron. My suspicion is that this object would not have done anywhere near that much damage.

Not at all a Tunguska like object. When meteorites have a critical mass they don't make it to Earth intact. The pressure exerted on the object as it strikes the atmosphere is too great and the object explodes. In the case of the Tunguska object, it exploded some distance above the Earth. The exact distance has been calculated from the pattern of the downed trees but I don't remember how high up it was. 1,400 pounds is not large enough to get a Tunguska event. The meteorite that caused the Barringer crater in Arizona also shattered but I believe it did so on impact, rather than above the Earth. It also would have been much bigger than 1,400 pounds.

beskeptical · #10 (**permalink**) 15-November-2005, 09:13 AM

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Originally Posted by peteshimmon

...BTW there is an interesting
theory the Tunguska event might have been the
explosion of methane suddenly released from
the ground.

There is no evidence for this and how would you get the explosion above the ground?

Christopher Ferro · #11 (**permalink**) 15-November-2005, 02:24 PM

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Originally Posted by beskeptical

Not at all a Tunguska like object. When meteorites have a critical mass they don't make it to Earth intact. The pressure exerted on the object as it strikes the atmosphere is too great and the object explodes. In the case of the Tunguska object, it exploded some distance above the Earth. The exact distance has been calculated from the pattern of the downed trees but I don't remember how high up it was. 1,400 pounds is not large enough to get a Tunguska event. The meteorite that caused the Barringer crater in Arizona also shattered but I believe it did so on impact, rather than above the Earth. It also would have been much bigger than 1,400 pounds.

It was my understanding that this was a fragment of a larger object?

CJSF

beskeptical · #12 (**permalink**) 16-November-2005, 09:36 PM

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Originally Posted by Christopher Ferro

It was my understanding that this was a fragment of a larger object?

CJSF

Can't tell from your post whether you are referring to the nickel-iron meteorite from the Arizona crater or the object that exploded above Tunguska. IN the case of the Arizona crater, the remnants were found all around the crater. In Tunguska there was the tree fall pattern and some particulates in the downed trees that provided the evidence for what it was. I'm not aware either was recently part of any larger object, (many meteorites do have recognized parent bodies they originally were part of). If so, where did the larger object hit?

publiusr · #13 (**permalink**) 16-November-2005, 10:21 PM

Big-un!

Wolverine · #14 (**permalink**) 18-November-2005, 11:01 AM

Yowzah. What a find.

Maksutov · #15 (**permalink**) 18-November-2005, 03:02 PM

Now let's see, when and where did the Kansas school board meet? With those data we can determine approximately how far off target, distance and time-wise, this meteorite was. Since it did miss, I'd say this was a case of pretty poor design.

Good thing it wasn't determined to be over 6,000 years old, or you'd have a large number of Kansassians claiming it didn't exist.

[edit/typo]

Kaptain K · #16 (**permalink**) 21-November-2005, 05:54 PM

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Kansassians

That's Kanzanyans

Kaptain "I grew up there" K

Christopher Ferro · #17 (**permalink**) 22-November-2005, 06:00 PM

I mean that the Kansas find is 1,400 pounds, but that is only a fragement of the larger object. So to say a 1,400 pound object isn't sufficient doesn't address how big the original Kansas object was/is.

CJSF

Lonewulf · #18 (**permalink**) 22-November-2005, 06:28 PM

Wow. Someone actually grew up in Kansas?

I rarely hear about it outside of Wizard of Oz, so I just assumed it was a hoax. After all, I never MET someone from Kansas...

I still maintain that North Dakota doesn't exist. It's a conspiracy!

Swift · #19 (**permalink**) 22-November-2005, 08:24 PM

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Originally Posted by Lonewulf

I still maintain that North Dakota doesn't exist. It's a conspiracy!

A buddy of mine was in the Air Force and was stationed in ND. He says the movie Fargo is the absolute truth (as far as what that area is like, ya betcha).

Lonewulf · #20 (**permalink**) 22-November-2005, 11:34 PM

He was in the Air Force. Ever heard of Area 51? That's owned by the AF...

Conspiracy, I say! They lied to you!