Hi,
My 6 year old son has been given a metal detector by the Good Saint. Went out today with the whole family. 500m from home we suddenly hear a library. After 10 minutes of digging, the disappointment is overwhelming because it was only a stone.
Since we thought it was special that the metal detector reacted to this, we took the stone home after all. The daughter thought it might be a meteorite.
/ After some searching, we don’t really get any wiser and that’s why our question to you. The stone is 12cm x 8cm and magnetic.
Greetings,
family Peters
Answer
Dear Peeters family
Most meteorites are magnetic, but so are many terrestrial rocks that contain iron oxides (such as the mineral magnetite, Fe3O4). Unfortunately, your stone belongs to the latter category.
It is a very granular rock with some large rounded glassy grains, I suspect quartz grains. In addition, the stone also contains dark gray rock fragments. The brown color is caused by iron (hydr)oxides. All things considered, I’m assuming it’s a piece of ironstone.
This type of natural stone is quite common in some places in Flanders, eg in the Hageland, where the Diest iron sandstone was often used as a building stone. Today, this stone is mainly used for the restoration of old buildings.
So unfortunately you didn’t find a meteorite, but you might have learned something interesting.
Good luck with your further quests!
Answered by
Prof. dr. Robert Speijer
Geology – Paleontology – Paleoclimatology. You study geology in Leuven!
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
.