M A G A N E - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

owned by the Standard Iron conpany of
Philadelphia.
The number of persons visiting the
crater has increased yearly to such proportions
that for its own protection, the
company has found it necessary to restrict
entrance to the crater to the northern
rim, where a fee of 25 cents is
charged.
After some preliminary dragging, we
found the most plentiful supply of meteoric
fragments at the extreme outside
edge of the south slope. This may be due
to the fact that it is more remote from
the road and therefore less subject to
the search of specimen hunters, or that
the "splash" of the molten mass was
more generous in this direction. One of
the old-timers in that area told me that
in former years pieces of the meteorite
were plentiful on the north side, and
had been picked up as far as five miles
from the crater. This would indicate
that the element of splash had nothing
to do with the present day supply of sur-
: : ace material.
While working with the magnetic rake,
an interesting fact was disclosed. Owing
:o their long exposure to the elements,
iiost of the specimens lying on the surface
were so badly oxidized as to have
little value as collectors' items. It was
necessary to weight the rake so that it
Here is a picture of Walter Ford and his magnetic rake. A sheet oj paper was
placed under the rake before the photo was taken in order to shoiv by contrast
the fragments of meteorite collected.
dug below the surface before any worthwhile
pieces were obtained. In operating
He>e are some of the specimens picked up by rake. Ford got about 10 pounds
of them in an hour's time.
the rake over an area approximately onequarter
mile square, we were able to obtain
about 10 pounds of meteorites in an
hour's time. They ranged in size from
a fraction of an inch to two inches across.
Probably few specimen hunters will wish
to duplicate such large-scale collecting,
but where the usual piece-by-piece method
is employed a small magnet would be
a helpful tool in discovering the worthwhile
specimens.
Analysis of the fragments found in
the crater, according to Geoglin, shows
about 90 percent iron, with nickel, platinum
and iridium making up the remaining
portion. A trace of gold and silver
exists in some pieces, and microscopic diamonds
have been found in a few.
A fair dirt road leads around the crater
to the south slope I have mentioned.
There are no barriers in the road but it
is on private property and permission to
visit the area should be obtained from
Geoglin at the north rim.
Those who are interested in unusual
natural phenomena will find the trip
here thoroughly worthwhile. But just a
word of caution. You might feel the urge
to extend your exploration to the floor
of the pit, so take along a canteen of
water. There is no water at the crater,
and I can personally testify that a summer-day
trip into the cavity and out again
would be much more enjoyable with an
ample supply of drinking water.
AUGUST, 1940 15