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THE WATERVILLE METEORITE

Waterville, Washington By Delbert S. Duncan and Julieta G. Duncan

Introduction The Waterville meteorite was found in 1917 1 on the Fred Fachnie farm near Waterville, Washington. The meteorite is roughly rectangular in shape, and from four to six inches in thickness. The greatest circumference is 36 inches. The least is nine inches. The surface is covered with a thin black brown oxide crust 2. The original weight of the meteorite was 37.125 kg. 3 Additional smaller masses of the meteorite were found in the immediate vicinity of the location of the large mass 4. These additional pieces have been lost over time. About 1950 additional meteorite material was found at a site only about five miles from the actual find site of the Waterville meteorite. This meteorite was named the Withrow meteorite. It has been shown that, although the find sites are close together, they are not from the same fall 5. Since the find of the additional smaller masses referenced above, there have been no recorded finds of additional meteorite material from the Waterville meteorite. Since the Waterville meteorite was found in 1917, many new techniques have developed for testing mineral material to determine trace elements. These techniques can be used to search for additional meteorite debris from the Waterville meteorite. Accurately mapping the debris from the meteorite would provide valuable information for a better understanding of this meteorite. ************

Geology: The Waterville meteorite was found on the Waterville Plateau, underlain by Cenozoic basalts. The terminal moraine of a lobe from the Laurentide (Pleistocene) ice sheet lies a few miles to the northeast 6. Investigation: A meteoroid entering the atmosphere at extreme speeds can lose most of its mass as it passes through the atmosphere. The extreme speed in the atmosphere causes the air in the path of the meteoroid to be severely compressed. When air is compressed rapidly, its temperature increases. This hot air causes the exterior of the stony (or iron) meteoroid to melt. The melted portion is so hot, and fluid that it immediately abates (sloughs off) and new material is melted underneath 7. The material that abates from the meteoroid is sometimes small particles that can be microscopic in size. These particles are left in a debris trail that can track a meteoroid from after it has entered the atmosphere until it reaches the Impact zone. Microscopic particles of a meteoroid can be spread over a large area, and are difficult to find, or identify. When the tiny particles make contact with the surface they become alluvial in nature. They will move into the drainage system, and collect on the bedrock. Material caught up on the bedrock in the bottom of a drainage system will consist of both meteorite debris, and terrestrial material. Collection of the, iron rich, granular material in this alluvial soil can be accomplished using powerful rare earth magnets. The material collected in this manner can then be tested for the elements found in the Waterville meteorite. The primary elements found in the Waterville meteorite are: Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu 8. The sample material collected with the rare earth magnet should be rich in iron. Cobalt and copper are somewhat common in terrestrial material, but the nickel is not as abundant. A spike in the nickel content might indicate meteorite debris. It will be important to locate the areas, where samples were collected, in a manner that it can be determined if a pattern of spikes in the nickel content develops. Nickel occurs in many mineral samples that contain iron, but only as a trace element. To establish a spike in the nickel content of a sample it will be necessary to determine a base background number from a sample of iron rich granular material taken from an area outside the influence of a meteorite strike, or strewnfield. The sample chosen to develop the element base numbers was taken from the Monte Cristo Mining District in 1987, near Barlow Pass, in the Cascade Mountains. There are no known meteorite finds in this area. The sample material is rich in minerals, and was screened from raw alluvial deposits. The screened sample material was rescreened through a #40 sieve, and hydraulically concentrated. The sample, as prepared, was submitted to Federal Testing Laboratories, Seattle, Washington. The testing lab conducted an Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma spectroscopy over a suite of 45 elements. The results of this testing will be used as the base background value as shown on the Test Results Table.

Photograph by Don Edwards. Mineral identification 9

The above sample sliced from the Waterville meteorite shows the abundance of kamacite (Fe7Cr2Ni), and taenit (FeNi). Taenit is also spelled "Taenite". The abated material from this meteorite will be predominantly kamacite. The following table shows the primary elements for kamacite, and taenit within this meteorite: Table 2 10 Composition of Waterville kamacite and taenit %(W/W) Fe Co Ni Cu Kamacite (mean of 62 analyses) 92.42 +- 0.56 0.51 +- 0.07 6.83 +- 0.31 <0.01 99.77 +- 0.61 Taenit (mean of 32) 60.90 +- 2.54 0.12 +- 0.05 38.52 +- 2.98 0.21 +- 0.04 99.75 +- 0.44

Kamacite is a silver gray mineral with a metallic luster. It has high iron content, and can be collected using a rare earth magnet in the alluvial soil. The Waterville #2 label on the following photograph shows the actual find site of this meteorite. The marker is set at a point in the NW Sec. 7, T.26 N., R. 24 E., 3

W.M. that has been determined to be the actual find site for this meteorite 11. For those of you who might not understand the Sectionalized Land System of the United States, the marker point is set at: Lat. 47 46' 04.08" N., Long. 119 52' 34.68" W. Sample Area #1 marker point is located at: Lat. 47 45' 55.49" N., Long. 119 52' 50.90" W. These two points are 1380 feet apart.

The aerial photograph above shows a drainage running from the northeasterly direction to the southwesterly direction, and westerly of the actual find site. This drainage runs through Sample Area #1. The drainage course has exposed basalt bedrock along portions of the lower end. Collection of a 450g, iron rich, granular material sample was accomplished in this area by using a rare earth magnet. The sample material was concentrated by dropping the material 18 inches through blowing air into the force field of another magnet. The sample material at this stage was a very fine, black, or dark brown, iron rich granular material. Twenty 20g glass vials were filled with the sample material, and sent to ALS Minerals for testing 12. ALS Minerals pulverized the samples, and tested using ICP-AES 13.

ELEMENT Fe Ni Co Cu Sc Mn Zn Ga Ge As Mo Ru Sn Sb Re Os Ir Au P S Cr Al Ba Ca Rb Rh K Li Mg Na Pb Pt Si Sr Th Ti V Zr Ag B Be Bi Cd Ce Cs

BASE 89% 6 4 22 <100 69 55 n.t. <100 <100 <100 n.t. <100 n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. 10.5 310 90 11 3800 81 1100 <100 <100 14300 6 3300 90 65 4.2 97 3 2 340 15 19 <100 <100 <100 n.t. 1 4 n.t.

METEORITE 92.42% 68300-76500 1200-5100 100-208 <0.05 16 600 71 194-196 10.5-15.9 6.4 2 3.6 0.338-0.34 0.018-0.037 0.19 0.372-0.47 0.99-1.63 *15.24% *36.5% 380-5000 n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t.

SAMPLE #1 32% 75 55 17 n.t. n.t. 430 30 n.t. n.t. 1 n.t. n.t. <2 n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. 2490 <0.01 260 n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t. n.t.

FACTOR 2x 8x 8x 8x

VALUE 64% 600 440 136

8x 8x

3440 240

8x

8x 8x

19920 2080

TEST RESULTS TABLE

ALS Minerals was instructed to test for the following elements: Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, P, S, Sb, & Zn. The laboratory conducted twenty separate tests divided between these elements. The results of these tests are shown in the preceding table. The table compares the base value with the Waterville meteorite, and shows the test results with its adjustment factor to allow for the terrestrial material found in the sample material. Examination with the microscope revealed an abundance of terrestrial material mixed with

Photograph by Delbert S. Duncan

possible meteorite debris. It is not possible to separate the possible meteorite material to run clean testing, so an adjustment to the lab test results is required. The microscope slide was photographed, and enlarged with the computer. The photograph was divided into sections, and each particle in the slide was counted The particles were visually divided into terrestrial, and possible meteorite debris. This data was used to determine an adjustment factor to apply to the test results. Iron is in abundance, in both the terrestrial rock, and the possible meteorite material. This reduced the adjustment factor for iron to 2x. The adjustment factor for the remaining elements was determined to be 8x. This determination was made using the number of particles in each group, and the relative size, as compared with the silver gray particles. The values derived from testing, and listed in the preceding Test Result Table show a definite spike in the nickel content of Sample #1 over the base number. This may indicate the presents of meteorite debris in Sample #1. There are many particles in the microscope slide that are silver gray in color, and have a metallic luster. In order to better understand these particles the microscope slide was brought into the force field of a powerful magnet while being observed through the microscope. The silver gray 6

particles had a strong reaction to the magnetic force, indicating with a great deal of certainty, the particles contain iron. There were also many particles that had, what appeared to be, flow lines. Flow lines are unique to meteorites 14. This is a strong indication that this material is from a meteorite.

SAMPLE #1 PARTICLE WITH FLOW LINES. Photograph by Delbert S. Duncan FLOW LINES ON A SIKHOTE ALIN METEORITE Photograph by Delbert S. Duncan

A pure Iron particle that has been exposed to the environment for an extended time should show evidence of oxidation, yet none of these particles in the microscope slide show any indication that oxidation is taking place. The Test Results Table shows that Sample #1 contained 2080ppm of chromium, and 600ppm of nickel. These elements alloyed with iron would be a form of kamacite (Fe7Cr2Ni) 15. This compound would allow the iron element to resist oxidation, and increases the evidence that these silver gray metallic particles with a metallic luster are kamacite. Kamacite is not native to this area, and it is a common mineral in iron meteorites. These facts seem to suggest that the silver gray particles are a portion of the Waterville meteorite. The following photograph is microscope slide picture of Sample #1 material showing the abundance of these silver gray particles. Also shown for comparison on this same sheet are photographs, by others, of three confirmed micrometeorites. There is unmistakable similarity between these particles.

Photograph by Delbert S. Duncan

The above photograph, of a microscope slide shows the abundance of silver gray particles in the Sample #1 material. The three overlay photographs are, by others, and are of micrometeorites that are similar to the silver gray particles. These particles, when reveled by the microscope, may allow a means of conducting preliminary field tests that would indicate which samples should have more extensive testing procedure undertaken with them.

Conclusion: The data developed from the testing, and research, indicates that meteorite debris may be in the area. These test methods could show a great deal more information about the Waterville meteorite, should additional tests be undertaken. As the distance from the actual find site to the test site increases it may be possible to determine a dramatic decrease in the nickel content of the sample. If this occurs, the location of the edge of a possible strewnfield might be determined. In that event, an accurate map of the strewnfield might be possible, which could allow calculations for the meteorite of the direction of travel, and the angle of decent. Findings thus far indicate that additional investigation is warranted for a more accurate depiction of the Waterville meteorite than presently exists. References:

Grizzle, E.D. 1963, The Waterville meteorite shower, The Observer, 24, No.9 & by direct interview by Ellen D. Grizzle with Fachnie family. Catalog of Meteorites (Internet), Natural History Museum of London, U.K. (Note: the find location shown in the Catalog of Meteorites is not on the Fred Fachnie farm). 2 Hubert C. Blonk, Wenatchee Daily News, October 4, 1987. 3 Catalog of Meteorites (Internet), Natural History Museum of London, U.K. (Note: weights have been listed by others from 73 lbs. to 82 lbs.). 4 Otis W. Freeman, Department of Geology, Eastern Washington College of Education, The Withrow Meteorite of 1913 , Northwest Science, Volume 22, February 1948. Note: Freeman was unaware the meteorite was already named, and his 1913 date is approximate, as stated in his paper. 5 Withrow a New Iron Meteorite from the State of Washington; William F. Read, Department of Geology, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin; Ellen D. Grizzle and Walter M. Grizzle, The Grizzle Observatory, East Wenatchee, Washington. METEORITICS, Vol. 3, No. 4, December, 1967. 6 See preceding reference. 7 Meteorite or Meteorwrong? By Randy L. Korotev, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. 8 Mineralogical and Chemical Investigation of the Waterville Meteorite by Helmut H. Weinke and W. Kiest of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, University of Vienna, and R.S. Clarke, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. (Division of Meteorites). 9 Withrow a New Iron Meteorite from the State of Washington by William F. Read, Department of Geology, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin; Ellen D. Grizzle and Walter M. Grizzle, The Grizzle Observatory, East Wenatchee, Washington; Figure 6. 10 Mineralogical and Chemical Investigation of the Waterville Meteorite by Helmut H. Weinke and W. Kiesl of the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, University of Vienna; and R.S. Clarke, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (Division of Meteorites). 11 Ellen D. Grizzle conducted a direct interview with the Fachnie family in which they advised her that this was the correct find site. 12 ALS Minerals, 4977 Energy Way, Reno, NV 89502. Certificate RE11119775 13 ICP-AES test is an Inductively Coupled Plasma with Atomic Emission Spectroscopy for selected elements. 14 Meteorite Hunting, page 18, by Geoffrey Notkin; (Author note: Flow lines are caused by super heated objects moving through the atmosphere. The air flow around the object causes the lines to form. Tektite, and volcanic ejecta also can have flow lines). 15 www.mindat.org UM2001-06-E: CrFeNi Mokhov, A.V., Kartashov, P.M., Bogatikov, O.A. (2007) Moon under a microscope Moscow, Uauka, p. 128 (in Russian).

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