THE METEORITE MOUNTAIN
Ten miles southeast of Canon Diablo station on the Santa Fe Pacific
Railroad, stands the Meteorite Mountain of Arizona, on a wide, open
plain of the Colorado Plateau. It is two hundred feet high and, as
seen at a distance, has the appearance of a low, flat mountain. Its
top forms the rim of an immense, round, bowl-shaped hole in the ground
that has almost perpendicular sides, is one mile wide and over six
hundred feet deep. The hole, originally, was evidently very much
deeper than it is at the present time, but it has gradually become
filled with debris to its present depth. The bottom of the hole has a
floor of about forty acres of level ground which merges into a talus.
This formation is sometimes called the Crater, because of its shape,
but there is no evidence of volcanic action. Locally it is known as
Coon Butte, which is a misnomer; but Meteorite Mountain is a name with
a meaning.
It is not known positively just how or when the mountain was formed,
but the weight of evidence seems to favor the meteorite theory, which
is that at some remote period of time a monster meteorite fell from the
sky and buried itself in the earth.
Mr. F. W. Volz, who has lived in the country twenty years and is an
intelligent observer of natural phenomena, has made a careful study of
the mountain, and it is his opinion that such an event actually
occurred and that a falling star made the mountain. When the
descending meteorite, with its great weight and terrific momentum, hit
the earth something had to happen. It buried itself deep beneath the
surface and caused the earth to heave up on all sides. The effect
produced is aptly illustrated, on a small scale, by throwing a rock
into thick mud.
The impact of the meteorite upon the earth not only caused an upheaval
of the surface, but it also crushed and displaced the rocks beneath.
As the stellar body penetrated deeper into the earth its force became
more concentrated and either compressed the rocks into a denser mass or
ground them to powder.
The plain on which the mountain stands is covered by a layer of red
sandstone of variable thickness, as it is much worn in places by
weather erosion. Below the top covering of red sandstone lie three
hundred feet of limestone and beneath the limestone five hundred feet
more of white sandstone. This arrangement of the rocks is plainly seen
in the walls of Canon Diablo.
The displaced strata of rocks in the hole are tilted and stand outwards
and great boulders of red sandstone and limestone lie scattered all
about. If the hole had been made by an explosion from below large
pieces of rock from each one of the different rock strata would have
been thrown out; but, while as just stated, there are plenty of huge
blocks of red sandstone and limestone, there are no large pieces of
white sandstone. After the superficial layers of rock had been broken
up and expelled en masse, the deeper rock of white sandstone, being
more confined, could not reach the surface in the shape of boulders,
but had first to be broken up and ground to powder before it could
escape. Then the white sandstones in the form of fine sand was blown
skywards by the collision and afterwards settled down upon the
mountain. The mountain is covered with this white sand, which could
only have come out of the big hole as there is no other white sand or
sandstone found anywhere else upon the entire plain.
In the vicinity of the mountain about ten tons of meteorites have been
found, varying in size from the fraction of an ounce to one thousand
pounds or more. Most of the meteorites were found by Mr. Volz, who
searched diligently every foot of ground for miles around. The smaller
pieces were picked up on or near the rim, and they increased in size in
proportion as they were distant from the mountain until, on a circle
eight miles out, the largest piece was found. Meteorites were found
upon all sides of the mountain but they seemed to be thickest on the
east side.
The writer first visited the mountain in the summer of 1901 and it was
the greatest surprise of his six weeks' trip sightseeing in northern
Arizona where are found many natural wonders. He was fortunate enough
to find a three pound meteorite within five minutes after arriving on
the rim, which Mr. Volz said was the first specimen found by anyone in
over four years.
Professor G. K. Gilbert of the United States Geological Survey visited
the mountain several years ago to investigate the phenomenon and, if
possible, to determine its origin by scientific test. He gave the
results of his researches in a very able and comprehensive address,[1]
delivered before the Geological Society of Washington, D.C. The
existing conditions did not seem to fit his theories, and he concluded
his work without arriving at any definite conclusion.
After disposing of several hypotheses as being incompetent to prove the
origin of the mountain he decided to try the magnetic test. He assumed
that if such a meteorite was buried there the large mass of metallic
iron must indicate its presence by magnetic attraction. By means of
the latest scientific apparatus he conducted an elaborate magnetic
experiment which gave only negative results.
He discussed at length the various hypotheses which might explain the
origin of the crater and concluded his notable address as follows:
"Still another contribution to the subject, while it does not increase
the number of hypotheses, is nevertheless important in that it tends to
diminish the weight of the magnetic evidence and thus to reopen the
question which Mr. Baker and I supposed we had settled. Our
fellow-member, Mr. Edwin E. Howell, through whose hands much of the
meteoric iron had passed, points out that each of the iron masses,
great and small, is in itself a complete individual. They have none of
the characters that would be found if they had been broken one from
another, and yet, as they are all of one type and all reached the earth
within a small district, it must be supposed that they were originally
connected in some way.
"Reasoning by analogy from the characters of other meteoric bodies, he
infers that the irons were all included in a large mass of some
different material, either crystalline rock, such as constitutes the
class of meteorites called 'stony,' or else a compound of iron and
sulphur, similar to certain nodules discovered inside the iron masses
when sawn in two. Neither of these materials is so enduring as iron,
and the fact that they are not now found on the plain does not prove
their original absence. Moreover, the plain is strewn in the vicinity
of the crater with bits of limonite, a mineral frequently produced by
the action of air and water on iron sulphides, and this material is
much more abundant than the iron. If it be true that the iron masses
were thus imbedded, like plums in an astral pudding, the hypothetic
buried star might have great size and yet only small power to attract
the magnetic needle. Mr. Howell also proposes a qualification of the
test by volumes, suggesting that some of the rocks beneath the buried
star might have been condensed by the shock so as to occupy less space.
"These considerations are eminently pertinent to the study of the
crater and will find appropriate place in any comprehensive discussion
of its origin; but the fact which is peculiarly worthy of note at the
present time is their ability to unsettle a conclusion that was
beginning to feel itself secure. This illustrates the tentative nature
not only of the hypotheses of science, but of what science calls its
results.
"The method of hypotheses, and that method is the method of science,
founds its explanations of nature wholly on observed facts, and its
results are ever subject to the limitations imposed by imperfect
observation. However grand, however widely accepted, however useful
its conclusions, none is so sure that it cannot be called into question
by a newly discovered fact. In the domain of the world's knowledge
there is no infallibility."
After Prof. Gilbert had finished his experiments, Mr. Volz tried some
of his own along the same line. He found upon trial that the
meteorites in his possession were non-magnetic, or, practically so. If
these, being pieces of the larger meteorite which was buried in the
hole, were non-magnetic, all of it must be non-magnetic, which would
account for the failure of the needle to act or manifest any magnetic
attraction in the greater test.
Mr. Volz also made another interesting discovery in this same
connection. All over the meteorite zone are scattered about small
pieces of iron which he calls "iron shale." It is analogous to the
true meteorite, but is "burnt" or "dead." He regards these bits of
iron as dead sparks from a celestial forge, which fell from the
meteorite as it blazed through the heavens.
In experimenting with the stuff he found that it was not only highly
magnetic, but also possessed polarity in a marked degree; and was
entirely different from the true meteorite. Here was a curiosity,
indeed; a small, insignificant and unattractive stone possessed of
strong magnetic polarity, a property of electricity that is as
mysterious and incomprehensible as is electricity itself.
Another peculiarity of Canon Diablo meteorite is that it contains
diamonds. When the meteorite was first discovered by a Mexican sheep
herder he supposed that he had found a large piece of silver, because
of its great weight and luster, but he was soon informed of his
mistake. Not long afterwards a white prospector who heard of the
discovery undertook to use it to his own advantage, by claiming that he
had found a mine of pure iron, which he offered for sale. In an
attempt to dispose of the property samples of the ore were sent east
for investigation. Some of the stone fell into the hands of Dr. Foote,
who pronounced it to be meteorite and of celestial origin.
Sir William Crookes in discussing the theory of the meteoric origin of
diamonds[2] says "the most striking confirmation of the meteoric theory
comes from Arizona. Here, on a broad open plain, over an area about
five miles in diameter, were scattered from one to two thousand masses
of metallic iron, the fragments varying in weight from half a ton to a
fraction of an ounce. There is little doubt that these masses formed
part of a meteorite shower, although no record exists as to when the
fall took place. Curiously enough, near the center, where most of the
meteoritics have been found, is a crater with raised edges three
quarters of a mile in diameter and about six hundred feet deep, bearing
exactly the appearance which would be produced had a mighty mass of
iron or falling star struck the ground, scattering in all directions,
and buried itself deep under the surface. Altogether ten tons of this
iron have been collected, and specimens of Canyon Diablo Meteorite are
in most collectors' cabinets.
"An ardent mineralogist, the late Dr. Foote, in cutting a section of
this meteorite, found the tools were injured by something vastly harder
than metallic iron, and an emery wheel used in grinding the iron had
been ruined. He examined the specimen chemically, and soon after
announced to the scientific world that the Canyon Diablo Meteorite
contained black and transparent diamonds. This startling discovery was
afterwards verified by Professors Friedel and Moissan, who found that
the Canyon Diablo Meteorite contained the three varieties of
carbon--diamond (transparent and black), graphite and amorphous carbon.
Since this revelation the search for diamonds in meteorites has
occupied the attention of chemists all over the world.
"Here, then, we have absolute proof of the truth of the meteoric
theory. Under atmospheric influences the iron would rapidly oxidize
and rust away, coloring the adjacent soil with red oxide of iron. The
meteoric diamonds would be unaffected and left on the surface to be
found by explorers when oxidation had removed the last proof of their
celestial origin. That there are still lumps of iron left in Arizona
is merely due to the extreme dryness of the climate and the
comparatively short time that the iron has been on our planet. We are
here witnesses to the course of an event which may have happened in
geologic times anywhere on the earth's surface."
About a year ago several mineral claims were located in the crater by a
company of scientific and moneyed men. The required assessment work
was done and a patent for the land obtained from the government. The
object of the enterprise is for a double purpose, if possible to solve
the mystery of the mountain, and if successful in finding the
"hypothetic buried star" to excavate and appropriate it for its
valuable iron.
A shaft has been sunk one hundred and ninety-five feet deep, where a
strong flow of water was encountered in a bed of white sand which
temporarily stopped the work. A gasoline engine and drill were
procured and put in operation and the drill was driven down forty feet
further when it stuck fast in white quicksand. It is the intention of
the company to continue the work and carry it on to a successful finish.
Nothing of value was found in the hole dug, but some of the workmen in
their leisure hours found on the surface two large meteorites weighing
one hundred and one hundred and fifty pounds respectively, besides a
number of smaller fragments.
The Meteorite Mountain is in a class by itself and is, in a way, as
great a curiosity as is the Grand Canon. It is little known and has
not received the attention that it deserves. It is, indeed, marvelous
and only needs to be seen to be appreciated.
[1] The Origin of Hypotheses. 1895.
[2] Diamonds. Wm. Crookes, F.R.S. Smithsonian Report. 1897.