Thanks Rob and Bob for sharing. Extremely cool information and very fun stories about your Wisconsin experience!
Mark Hirsch Photojournalist 2076 Airport Road Platteville, WI 53818 Cell 563-590-2710 markhir...@markhirschphoto.com http://www.markhirschphoto.com Providing professional photojournalism and commercial photography services. On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 6:14 AM, Robert Verish <bolidecha...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Wisconsin Meteorite Trip Report - R. Verish - May 27, 2010 > > Hello List, > > This post reports on my Wisconsin Meteorite search efforts from earlier this > month. > The focus of this effort was an attempt to extend the “known” strewn field in > both directions – east and west, using images of NOAA-NWS Doppler radar > weather data that were generated by Rob Matson. Some of these images can be > viewed on my webpage, here: > > http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2010/may10.htm > > These same images and data were supplied by Rob to Sonny Clary, as well, and > as it turns out, even though we were hunting independently, we were > conducting our searches at the same time and in the same general area, but on > neighboring farms. Sonny returned home before I departed the strewn field and > has already posted his very well-written “trip report”. Since many of my > observations only serve to corroborate what Sonny has already reported, my > report will be shorter. So for reference, here is a link to Sonny’s previous > “trip report”: > > http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2010-May/064913.html > > Started my search in Lafayette County in a township known as Willow Springs > by contacting eyewitnesses and farmers in order to obtain permission to walk > their property. This part of my job was made easier (inadvertently) by Sonny, > who preceded me by a day and had already explained to the property owners our > mission. Continued to cross paths with Sonny until we accidentally met near > the courthouse in Darlington. We talked briefly, exchanging field notes and > discussing hunting strategy. I had no Wisconsin finds to show him, but I did > get to closely examine Brix’s find from his earlier trip. All that I had to > show for my efforts, up to this point, was a sack-full of morels: > > http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2010/wi/dsc01268morrel.jpg > > It was at this point that I decided it was time to pay a visit to the other > end of the strewn field. I attempted to extend the “known” strewn field (at > that time) to the west of Highway 80 in an area known as the “Amish Farm”. > These folk were quite friendly and very inquisitive about meteorites and > meteors, as were all of the other farmers that I met. They helped me get in > contact with the neighboring farmers. One farm had a particularly strong > Doppler radar reflection centered over it in a satellite image. Although I > hiked a lot of this area, there were many fields that were too lush with > vegetation or were recently planted. > > Encouraged by the announcement of the location for Michael Cottingham’s 105 > gram find, I now focused my search in areas to the east of Hwy 151, and with > the hope that there would be a continued repeat in the pattern that I noticed > in the clusters of finds from “up trend” in the strewn field. So, I selected > areas to search that were 3 miles farther down the trend of the flight path, > and that were located under strong Doppler radar reflections as depicted in > Rob Matson’s satellite images. > > In this area, there were fields of alfalfa, grass, and rye starting to get > cut, and I felt encouraged that, if given more time, a meteorite find could > have been eventually made. But on this leg of my trip, I again made no finds > and I failed to extend the strewn field. > > Now, I had to return to the airport at Madison to pick-up my met-hunting > partner, Greg Stanley. So, the next morning with a fresh pair of eyes and > legs we started our search anew. Greg’s plan was to start in the middle of > the strewn field and work outwards. Prior to Greg’s arrival, I had already > selected farms that were in the process of cutting-chopping-bailing grass and > obtained prior-approval to hunt those fields from the farmers. > > Long-story-short, I finally made a find! It is a 31 gram fragment with 3 > sides of fusion-crust, 2 sides of fresh-broken surface, and 1 side that has > faint evidence of a short-duration, secondary f-c melting event. It was > found in a freshly cut hay field right in the middle of the strewn field and > right on the generally-accepted trend line. And, of course, I waited until my > last day (before Greg and I were to depart for home) to make our one and only > find from this fall. My track-record for being a first-rate procrastinator > remains unblemished. > > http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2010/wi/dsc01425find-b.jpg > > Before departing, I invited Keith Jenkerson (who, along with Dana, were > staying at a neighboring farm) to use his metal-detector and try his luck at > finding the missing pieces to my fragment at the find location. He was > unable to detect any of the missing pieces, but for his effort he was > rewarded – he made his 2nd WI find [~15g] while walking back to meet Dana. > > http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2010/wi/dsc01453jenkerson2.jpg > > Later that last night, Greg and I gave farmer Wade a ride back to his farm > and shared some beers with him at his “ground zero” shed. Then we all went > over to the neighboring farm where Keith and Dana were staying, where we > celebrated our good luck that day, and celebrated our good luck at making > friends with such great people and in being able to share with them their new > strewn field. > > Departure the next day was bittersweet. It would be good to get back home. > But it seemed like such a waste to leave, particularly after obtaining all > that hard-learned expertise, and after meeting all those farmers, and making > new friends, and especially while there were new hay fields being cut! > > It won’t take very long for all that vegetation to grow back. The crops will > quickly grow to maturity, and all the while the farmers will be continually > busy driving their tractors in those fields. > > On Wisconsin! > Bob Verish > > P.S. – more images will be posted on my webpage: > http://meteorite-recovery.tripod.com/2010/june10.htm > > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
