11 December, 2001

Question of the Day: Can you name one characteristic of a meteorite that is measured by percentage? (Answer appears at the end of this journal entry.)

"Meteorite #2"

Day #2 and another beautiful meteorite hunting day. Once again, we board our skidoos, and drive out to the ice fields. On our way out I discover meteorite #2 (for me). It's a small iron no larger than a grape (but more peanut shaped).

We continue through the day traversing the ice fields side by side approximately 30-50 feet apart. John, our mountaineer, stops to give a lesson on looking out for crevasses. The many many snow covered "cracks" we had been so nonchalantly skidooing over were actually deep crevasses that we should have been avoiding! To prove his point, John takes out his ice chipper and commences to put a hole into a nearby sastrugi mound. The hole is bottomless! Once again, we realize we must respect mother nature and be especially careful as we walk/drive around/through sastrugi.

John tells us that although these crevasses are probably not wide enough for us to fall all the way through, we could break an ankle or leg should we step through one. That was a comforting thought! On the plus side, he reaches into one of the crevasses and pulls out a large chunk of beautiful ice crystals. They are pure, clear, and perfect hexagonal crystals. They are also refreshing. John passes around pieces for us to "have a drink".

Answer to today's "Question of the Day": One characteristic of a meteorite is a fusion crust. The crust is a solid black melted coating on all or part of the outside of the meteorite. As a meteorite passes through our atmosphere, the friction causes the meteorite to heat up and become charred. The fusion crust is measured by checking the percentage of the rock that is covered with this black crust.

Try this! Rub your hands rapidly together palm to palm. What do you feel? (The heat you feel is similar to the heat that is produced when a meteorite passes through our atmosphere.)

John's small hole in the snow bridge of a crevasse. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com

The small hole turns out to be bottomless! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com

Perfect crystals from the depths of the crevasse. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com