Any geologists in the group

[Dave Bonde]

Can anyone help me identify this rock? We found this rock in an Iowa farm field many years ago. It is very heavy and has very small crystals in it and is about the size of a large cantaloupe.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dave,

Looking at the "molten" appearance and your description of it being "heavy" I wonder if you have a small meteorite?

[Joe Angrisani]

Looking at the "molten" appearance and your description of it being "heavy" I wonder if you have a small meteorite?

Not saying it is or it isn't, but if Dave has a meteorite the size of a cantaloupe, he's got some value there!

Dave.... Does a magnet stick to it?

[Bryan Morgan]

Sure sounds like a meteorite to me. Were there any similar rocks around there? I'd take it to a local university and have them check it out. Could be worth some serious money!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In researching how to identify meteorites, the information I found advised even geologists have to be specially trained to identify meteorites. Take it to a university is sage advice.

[Bruce Pratt]

Check out this site for more info http://meteorites.asu.edu/.

[Phil Thien]

That, my friend, is Kryptonite. Posting a picture here was very unwise.

cc: Lex Luthor.

P.S. In all seriousness, I did google images of meteorites, it is a dead wringer for many of those images.

[Brian Kent]

I was once a geology major and agree with the guess that you found a meteorite. The look and your description are like the samples we were shown. Congratulations, and I also encourage you to get it checked out in a geology dept of a university.

[Greg Portland]

It is very heavy and has very small crystals in it and is about the size of a large cantaloupe.http://geology.com/meteorites/value-of-meteorites.shtml

Cheap ones are $0.50 a gram and that is for shards...

[Dave Bonde]

Thanks guys a little more information. No it is not magnetic. My dad told us when he was little he and his dad watched a meteorite fall and hit the ground in the field we found the rock in. They went out the next day and looked for it but never found anything. 30+ years later we found the rock in the same field dad said "well I guess we finally found the falling star". My brother took it on a Science field trip when he was in Jr High in the 70's and the guy (can't remember his title) said it was not a meteorite but offered to buy it for $50 because "he liked the rock" I never thought it was a meteor because it is not magnetic and the edges are pretty sharp, but maybe I was wrong:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dave,

I Googled Meteorite indentification last night. It said there that even trained geologists have to have special training to properly identify meteorites. Otherwise, their guess wasn't any better than any Joe off the street. If you really want to identify it, I would find a university close by that could possibly identify it.

[Scott Flamm]

I'm a geologist (Bachelors and Masters in geology) and first want to say that this is not my specialty (I'm more of a geophysicist) but to my eye that rock while it could be a meteorite looks more like it could be chert (which is a form of quartz). Meteorites tend to have more rounded edges due to the heat and ablation (vaporization of material) that occurs while entering and passing through the earth's atmosphere. The rock that you have looks like it has sharp edges that might be where softer rocks have weathered out and left behind the voids that they used to fill. If you really want to know though, I would recommend putting the rock in the hands of someone with more knowledge. Identifying rocks can be difficult without looking at a freshly exposed surface. Normally I would take a rock hammer to it to get a look at a clean surface (one that hasn't been weathered) but if it is a meteorite you may not want to do that. Like others have recommended if you have a university close by they can probably help you.

[ray hampton]

will a meteorite remain magnetic after it go thru. the heat of entrance the earth ?

[Dan Hintz]

The meteorite isn't magnetic... but most that survive reentry are metal, so...

[Curt Harms]

The meteorite isn't magnetic... but most that survive reentry are metal, so...

I'm ignorant on this stuff but could it be metallic but non-magnetic like nickel?

[Dan Hintz]

I'm ignorant on this stuff but could it be metallic but non-magnetic like nickel?
You're getting out of my area... while it's possible a chunk could be made solely of non-magnetic metals, I would guess the chances are relatively low. I'd have to look up the composition of a typical meteorite, but my guess would be a lot of iron mixed with small amounts of other various metals.