Just about the time one starts to figure that MDing is easy, along comes a new challenge...meteorite hunting. rofl We've just moved to Nevada and the challenge of finding meteorites seems interesting...to say the least. Believe me, it's a whole 'nuther world. I'm a coin/jewelry guy, but total rookie when it comes to finding a rock that fell from the sky.
The darn things can be anywhere! :bangahead01: However, we're in a good location for searching...the Mojave Desert.
Now, I've watched Meteorite Men the same as everyone else. I've come to the following conclusions...
I've spent the last twenty years avoiding cold weather and have no intention of heading to a polar icecap in search of a rock (or anything else for that matter). I've done my strewn field research and am currently planning a trip to an area where there are three such fields within a fifty mile radius. However, you gotta get started sometime. So Dana and I headed out for an adventure into Everywhere Else Land (a dry lake bed and the surrounding foothills in the Mojave Desert) this past weekend.
- [li]The best place to find meteorites is at the poles. Pretty simple really...if it's dark in/on the ice, it's a meteorite. No testing necessary.[/li]
[li]The second best place is a strewn field...the elliptical area along the path the meteor took when falling to earth. That's mostly where the Meteorite Men film their shows.[/li]
[li]The toughest place to find them is Everywhere Else.[/li]
[li]Once you find a specimen, you can't really be sure it's a meteorite. There are some tests that you can do such as magnetic properties, scratch tests, etc. However, even the Meteorite Men don't have a real identification until it goes to a lab.[/li]
Below are some pics. The specimen embedded in the lake bed looked promising, but failed the magnet test. Don't ask me how a rock got there without falling from the sky, but it was just a rock with a VDI of -45.
Here's Dana with her MXT, rare-earth magnet on a stick, and rock hammer. She took the headset off when we got in the foothills...snakes, you know.
Here's my mystery rock that failed the magnet test.
Here's Dana digging a target. The red thing is her rare earth magnet on a stick.
Here's my hunting partner. After four hours...still going strong. (I'll try to get White's to give me $100 for the free advertisement. LOL)
Bottom Line: Dana came up with two small suspects that passed the magnet test. I struck out.