I recently found some unusual rocks in the North Carolina Piedmont region and now looking for a lead in identifying what they are.

Characteristics:
- conductive
- gray/silver metallic appearance
- smooth areas are shiny
- very dense
- most samples are ferrous, though a couple do not seem to react to a magnet
- some samples have small, smooth indentations like tiny thumbprints
- seem to be very hard

These rocks were found scattered about a farm field. Not gathered in a single location. I don’t know of any mines or industrial activity in the immediate area. Historic maps I reviewed would likely have shown old mines.

I have an inquiry out to the geology department of the local university. Not sure they will respond, so looking for other leads.

Thanks in advance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: safespot,

Meteorites?

Don’t know. Never seen anything like them.

I'd guess meteorite pieces.
Here is a picture of a large meteorite.

I really need to get these samples in front of an expert as they do look similar to the above photo and other pictures I’ve seen online. My understanding is meteorites are extremely rare, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions.

Getting them to some who can look at them in person would be best. If you would like to ship a few, I could ask my son if he has time to look at them. He’s in his last year getting a geology degree at the University of South Florida.

Images have been added to the original post.

Cool!

Looks like the coal I used to shovel into Grampa's furnace when I was a kid. (Sorry, I hope it's part of a meteorite though. That would be cool)

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
If you would like to ship a few, I could ask my son if he has time to look at them. He’s in his last year getting a geology degree at the University of South Florida.

Thanks for the offer. I’ll see whether a local lead develops first, but may be back to see if he’s interested.

quote:

Originally posted by pace40:
Looks like the coal I used to shovel into Grampa's furnace when I was a kid.

Coal may make sense given there was an old homesite on the property. I believe coal is not as dense as this material, but need to do some measuring, weighing, and ciphering.

I am a licensed geologist, or I was before I let my license lapse. My expertise is more in structural geology than petrology, but those certainly look like they could be meteorite fragments. If they were near industrial activity I would be more inclined towards smelting waste. Any chance those fields have been top dressed with sand at some point in the past?

Sure looks like part of a meteorite to me, not all are magnetic. I like rocks but am no way an expert.

I know anyone could do this, but I asked Claude...

"These look most likely like iron meteorites, probably fragments of a nickel-iron meteorite. The features that point that way are the rounded, thumbprint-like pits (regmaglypts), the dense blocky shape, and the metallic gray-black surface. The second photo also shows what look like small vesicles or cavities.

Slag from old iron smelting or forging can look similar, though, so a few simple tests would settle it:

Magnet: Meteorite fragments are usually strongly attracted to a magnet, though some are weaker.
Weight: Iron meteorites are very dense, about 7.8 g/cm³. Compare the weight to a same-sized rock. Slag is usually lighter.
Etch test: A cut and polished surface etched with dilute nitric acid can show a Widmanstätten pattern, a crosshatch of nickel-iron crystals. This is the strongest evidence, but it means cutting the specimen.
Nickel spot test: Iron meteorites typically contain several percent nickel. Commercial spot-test kits can check for it.
Fusion crust and interior: Meteorites often have a thin dark, glassy crust and a fresh metallic interior. Slag usually has a glassy or vesicular structure throughout.

A photo can’t confirm this. Your friend could send a fragment to a university geology department, such as one in North Carolina, or to the NC Geological Survey for identification. Meteorites are often sold or traded, so if one is verified, it may have value."

"Yes. The historical record includes a few falls and finds in the Piedmont, though the central Piedmont has only a handful.

The clearest case is the Davidson fall in Mecklenburg County. On Halloween day 1849, people in Davidson witnessed the rare sight of a meteorite soaring overhead. The main part of the meteorite buried itself in the ground with a loud thud, and witnesses also reported smaller bodies falling with it. A local history notes that it was, at the time, only the second meteorite known to have fallen in North Carolina since it became a state in 1789.
DAVIDSON HISTORY
+2

Other Piedmont records include:

Deep Springs, Rockingham County: a find recorded as found 1846, recognized 1889, classified as a nickel-rich iron (IRANOM) weighing 11.5 kg.
mindat
Nash County: a fall in May 1874, described in a contemporary paper in the American Journal of Science.
Moore County: a fall on April 21, 1913, near Carthage. It is a stony meteorite, not an iron, and Carthage is at the Piedmont’s southeastern edge, in the Sandhills region.

Statewide, North Carolina has 29 officially recognized meteorites — 9 witnessed falls and 20 finds. The largest, Uwharrie, is an iron meteorite that weighed 72.7 kg. A Duke course summary also observes that almost ALL FINDS are IRONS in North Carolina, while most of the falls are stony. That pattern supports the idea that metallic specimens like your friend’s are the type most often found in the state.
rockhounding
duke

Sources:

Davidson History, newsofdavidson.org
Mindat, Deep Springs meteorite entry
American Journal of Science, 1875, Nash County meteorite
American Mineralogist, 1936, Moore County meteorite
Rockhounding.org, Meteorites Found in North Carolina
Duke University, Meteorites of North Carolina course notes"

My first guess is slag as there seems to be a lot of it spread around a general area. Iron rich meteorite frags should be very magnet attractive. Having varying levels of attraction between fragments further supports my suspicion.

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11: Any chance those fields have been top dressed with sand at some point in the past?

That is possible, though I haven’t heard of such practice in the area. I’ll ask some of the farmers there if that was ever common.

Look similar to slag remnants from an old pig iron forge near me. (I could be wrong - I have a history of that!)

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11:
I am a licensed geologist, or I was before I let my license lapse. My expertise is more in structural geology than petrology, but those certainly look like they could be meteorite fragments. If they were near industrial activity I would be more inclined towards smelting waste. Any chance those fields have been top dressed with sand at some point in the past?

I can personally and professionally attest to Jay "AA-Ron's" qualifications and will defer to him on the matter.

Summer of 1972 my mother announced to us kids we were going to a rock show. Imagine how bummed I was when it wasn’t a concert….. lol

Well, regarding the “rarity” of meteorites, I think it’s more an issue of them not having been observed. Sit out at night staring at the sky with night vision long enough and you’ll view these as common events that just simply aren’t generally noticed. There are a lot of conditions that have to line up for someone to both observe and recover a meteorite. That’s what’s rare, we get blasted with space dust and debris constantly.