Meteorite Or Rock?

[Johny]

Meteorite or rock?

Found this today kind of looks like possibly a Chromite meteorite but not sure so hoping some one could help. Browsed some pictures of
small Chromite meteorites on google images and seen some similar.

Dimension is about 1.5" diameter and about 40 grams heavy.

Not magnetic checked with magnet and my Garrett Pro-Pointer II detects nothing

Found in London, Ontario, Canada

Any help would be great
Thanks
John

[Chase Goldman]

It is rare for any meteorite to not be attracted by a magnet.  Non-terrestrial Chromite is usually (but not always) associated with iron-nickel meteorites.  So the fact that it is not attracted by a magnet makes it unlikely to be a meteorite and certainly unlikely to be a chromite meteorite.  See below for more information on helping to ID a possible meteorite.

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/i-think-i-found-a-meteorite-how-can-i-tell-sure?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products

[mn90403]

5 hours ago, Johny said:

Not magnetic checked with magnet and my Garrett Pro-Pointer II detects nothing

I don't know what it is (Chase gave you a better idea than I can) but it is not like any meteorite that I have found.  

Here is a search of meteorites found:

 

21 records found for meteorites from Canada with places that are exactly "Ontario"
(click on a name for more information; click in header to sort)

Blithfield	Official		1910	Ontario, Canada	EL6	1830 g
Brent **	Crater		>453 Ma	Ontario, Canada	Impact Crater				From EIDB
De Cewsville	Official	Y	1887	Ontario,                       Canada	H6	340 g
Dresden (Ontario)	Official	Y	1939	Ontario, Canada	H6	47.7 kg
Grimsby **	Official	Y	2009	Ontario, Canada	H5	215 g	97
Hagersville **	Official		1999	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IAB complex	30 kg	86
Holleford **	Crater		550 ± 100 Ma	Ontario, Canada	Impact Crater				From EIDB
Kitchener **	Official	Y	1998	Ontario, Canada	L6	203 g	84
Madoc	Official		1854	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IIIAB	168 kg
Manitouwabing **	Official		1962	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IIIAB	39 kg	26
Midland **	Official		1960	Ontario, Canada	Iron	34 g	50
Osseo	Official		1931	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IAB complex	46.3 kg
Rainy River **	Official		2000	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IAB complex	3.26 kg	104
Shelburne	Official	Y	1904	Ontario, Canada	L5	18.6 kg
Slate Islands **	Crater		~450 Ma	Ontario, Canada	Impact Crater				From EIDB
Southampton **	Official		2001	Ontario, Canada	Pallasite	3.58 kg	87
Sudbury **	Crater		1850 ± 3 Ma	Ontario, Canada	Impact Crater				From EIDB
Thurlow	Official		1888	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IIIAB	5.5 kg
Wanapitei **	Crater		37.2 ± 1.2 Ma	Ontario, Canada	Impact Crater				From EIDB
Welland	Official		1888	Ontario, Canada	Iron, IIIAB	8.2 kg
Wood Lake	Official		2003	Ontario, Canada	H4	350 g	97

Observed falls documented prior to 2015 have a Y in the fall column.

** Click on the meteorite's name to see the full initial description.

 

There are no meteorites with London and Canada in their name.

New meteorites are found all the time but one way to first check if you have a meteorite or not is to see if you have a piece of an already identified meteorite.  You can also look at Google Earth and find that location for a meteorite and if it is on searchable land recover a piece for yourself.

Are any of the falls near London?

 

 

 

[Johny]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

mn90403 Of the Falls you posted Kitchener is the closest one to London about 80km's away.

 

I found a website called American Meteor Society https://www.amsmeteors.org/ and found a recent large meteor event in my

area Feb 27, 2021  here is the Link with a Map path: https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2021/1160

I might send the photos to our local University (UWO) they have a department that might be able to help me.

Thanks

John 

[Johny]

I performed the following Streak test and it passed so I think my next step is to send the photos to the UWO (University of Western Ontario) professor.

Iron ore is the most common meteor-wrong. Magnetite especially is very magnetic (hence its name) and hematite may or may not be mildly magnetic. Both these minerals may possibly be distinguished from meteoritic material by a characteristic known as 'streak'. You can test the streak very simply. If you take a common ceramic tile, such as a bathroom or kitchen tile, it has a smooth glazed slide and an unfinished dull side which is stuck to the floor/wall when installed. Take the sample which you think is a meteorite and scratch it quite vigorously on the unglazed side of the tile.

If it leaves a black/gray streak (like a soft leaded pencil) the sample is likely magnetite, and if it leaves a vivid red to brown streak it is likely hematite. A stone meteorite, unless it is very heavily weathered will not normally leave a streak on the tile.
  

[GaryC/Oregon Coast]

Most Universities are going to want to see the sample, not a photo.  Just my experience in the past.  GaryC/Oregon Coast

[Johny]

Ok thanks Gary, they are local so should not be a problem if I get that far.

They have an online form I just filled out and summitted pictures, will report back what they say.

John

 

[Chase Goldman]

Johny - that streak test usually applies to differentiate an iron-nickel meteorite from magnetite or hematite AFTER you have determined the prospective meteorite is attracted by a magnet.  You said in your original post that it was not attracted by a magnet, so set your expectations accordingly.  Good luck.

[Johny]

Chase after much research online I found out that pure Hematite is usually not magnetic or if it is only very weakly so.

So based on this I wanted to confirm that the find was not Hematite or any other non-magnetic terrestrial mineral that marks. The streak test confirmed this for me as it left no markings.

UWO has a flow chart that I have attached to help me in determining if my find is possibly a meteorite, I followed it and assuming the find is lighter in color once I cut a section off it might... just might be a Non-magnetic Meteorite. (Maybe the find is weakly magnetic? and the magnet I'm using is just not strong enough, I'm using a hard drive magnet)

Flow chart answers:

Is a magnet attracted to it?  NO

Is it heavier than other rocks ?  NO  (of the same size I presume)

Does it have a dark, thin crust on the outside?  YES

Does it have a lighter color on the inside?  YES (well maybe under very bright light looks like it might be but I need to cut a piece off to really see and will wait for UWO to respond before I do that)

Cheers

John