McCoy Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061016/ap_on_sc/kansas_meteorite Rare meteorite found in Kansas field By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 16, 7:33 PM ET GREENSBURG, Kan. - Scientists located a rare meteorite in a Kansas wheat field thanks to new ground-penetrating radar technology that someday might be used on Mars The dig Monday was likely the most documented excavation yet of a meteorite find, with researchers painstakingly using brushes and hand tools to preserve evidence of the impact trail and to date the event of the meteorite strike. Soil samples also were bagged and tagged and organic material preserved for dating purposes. Even before they had the meteorite out of the ground, the scientific experts at the site were able to debunk prevailing wisdom that the spectacular Brenham meteorite fall occurred 20,000 years ago. Its location in the Pleistocene epoch soil layer puts that date closer to 10,000 years ago. "We know it is recent," said Carolyn Sumners, director of Astronomy at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, as she surveyed progress on the dig. "Native Americans could have seen it." The scientific expedition of the meteorite-strewn field in western Kansas was put together by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and led by meteorite hunters Steve Arnold and Philip Mani. Johnson Space Center's Lunar and Planetary Institute, the Rice Space Institute at Rice University and George Observatory in Houston also sent researchers. Fewer than 1 percent of the meteorites discovered on earth are pallasite meteorites, known for their crystals embedded in iron, Mani said. Sophisticated metal detectors at the site initially detected what had been thought to be the largest pallasite meteorite ever discovered. But ground-penetrating radar showed that object to be a steel cable. But with about a dozen potential targets on the site, the team still uncovered a sizable pallasite buried 4 feet under the ground and located a quarter of a mile from where Arnold and Mani found the world's largest pallasite meteorite a year ago. The newest find weighs 154 lbs, which is bigger than most such meteorites but on par for this particular field, Arnold said. "What is unique is not the size, but the fact it was found in context," said Patricia Reiff, director of the Rice Space Institute. Researchers from various scientific disciplines documented every aspect of the dig. Among them were an archaeologist, a paleontologist, a naturalist, geologists, astronomers and even an animator who re-created the meteor fall for the museum. But few garnered as much attention as Essam Heggy, planetary scientist at the Johnson Space Center's Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. It was his ground-penetrating technology that pinpointed the site and proved for the first time that the technology could be used to find objects buried deep in the ground and to make an accurate three-dimensional image of them. "It validates the technique so we can use something similar to that instrument when we go to Mars," Reiff said. Such GPR systems had been used in the past to locate smaller meteorites in Antarctica where ice allows easier penetration of the sonar. But until the Kansas dig, the technology had not been successfully used for ground detection in heavy soils, like what might be encountered in Mars, to find meteorites or water there. "When we find a piece of meteorite, each one is a new sentence we add to the book to understand the evolution of the solar system," Heggy said. The Brenham field was discovered in 1882. Scientists have since traced pieces of the shower as far away as Indian mounds in Ohio, indicating the meteorites were traded as pieces of jewelry and ceremonial artifacts. The site was largely forgotten in recent decades until Arnold and Mani leased eight square miles of it and began looking deep below the surface. More than 15,000 pounds of meteorites have been recovered from the Brenham fall, with about a third of them found by the two men in the past year, Mani said. About three dozen meteorites have been pulled from the field by their Brenham Meteorite Co. This week's find will end up as part of a new exhibit on comets, meteors, and asteroids at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The museum will pay about $50,000 for it, Sumners said. It is valued at more than $100,000, she said. Under the lease agreement, the landowner and meteorite hunters split the proceeds of any finds, Mani said. Landowner Alan Binford watched with interest as the scientists freed the meteorite, bagging clumps of his rich Kansas farmland around it. "I didn't figure there would be that much scientific value," he said. "I never thought about them going to this extent. It is interesting history." But is it green and glowing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061016/ap_on_sc/kansas_meteorite But is it green and glowing? I hope not. That would mean that Superman died 10,000 years ago. Unless it's just kelvarite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field I hope not. That would mean that Superman died 10,000 years ago. Unless it's just kelvarite. Maybe Superman is the antecessor of modern man. A comic book version of Adam in the Bible. Or, perhaps not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teh bunneh Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field All I know is that every time I get near that meteor, I get all sick and weak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field All I know is that every time I get near that meteor' date=' I get all sick and weak. [/quote'] That's because you're a wuss. Not for any make up of the meteor. You also get sick and weak when you get too close to the monkeys at the zoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Maybe Superman is the antecessor of modern man. A comic book version of Adam in the Bible. Or, perhaps not... If so, I seem to have failed to inherit heat vision... Evolution sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamerz123 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Nah, it's not green and glowing. It's Blue and glowing And I now have cyber-mental powers, so you will forget that you read this post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field If so' date=' I seem to have failed to inherit heat vision... Evolution sucks.[/quote'] It must have been a disadvantageous trait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamerz123 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field It must have been a disadvantageous trait Rep to both! So, did these comments give anyone else flashbacks to one of the live action Tick epsiodes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Certified Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Green and Glowing 10,00 years old that’s not Kryptonite it’s the bloody Lok-Nar. //Screams until he has no voice left// Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field It must have been a disadvantageous trait Only during puberty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketchpad Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Green and Glowing 10' date='00 years old that’s not Kryptonite it’s the bloody Lok-Nar. //Screams until he has no voice left// [/size'] It's my Loc-Nar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoresLost Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Nah, it's not green and glowing. It's Blue and glowing So what your saying is that you can ward off Bizzaro? Me am impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoloOfEarth Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field I don't know if it's because of that wierd glowing meteorite, but post #7 on this thread... it's just not there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkwleisemann Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Hmm... having just picked up Demon from the HERO Store and poked through it... maybe it was ages-old target practice leading up to Black's plans for the end times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Re: Rare meteorite found in Kansas field Well at least they didn't find it down here in Oklahoma, otherwise I'd figure it was the encrusted sarcophagus of Takofanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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