146 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL, 92 
As the Sardis iron meteorite is sufficiently firm to withstand the 
impact with the earth without failing, it should have been able to pene- 
trate sandy soil to a depth of more than 6 feet. The base of the Sardis 
rested somewhere between 24 and 30 inches below the present surface 
of the plowed field. This would indicate, if any value whatsoever can 
be attached to the conservative estimate of the 6-foot penetration, 
arrived at indirectly, that at least 48 inches of sediment has been 
removed from above this meteorite since it fell. 
If 4 feet of sediment has been removed from this surface, the top 
of the unweathered Hawthorne was once well above the uppermost 
part of the Sardis meteorite, for the bottom of the soil zone tends to 
weather down as the top is removed. Loose sand derived from the 
Hawthorne formation would have been the material scattered by the 
impact of the meteorite, but erosion long ago has removed that old 
weathered soil, and thus carried away all traces of its crater. Like- 
wise, if the compact Hawthorne beds had been shattered by the impact, 
the weathering agents and circulating waters would tend to obliterate 
all effects of the disturbance. 
Time of fall—For reasons already stated it seems likely that the 
Sardis meteorite did not fall within the past century. Even had it 
struck elsewhere and ricocheted to its last resting place at any time 
within the past hundred years, vivid stories of a falling star or some 
unusual phenomenon would probably still be well known by some of 
the older generation living in the neighborhood. However, the ques- 
tion of whether it fell several thousand years, a million, or even 10 
million years ago is problematical, and only indirect reasoning can 
be applied to date its fall. Aerial photographic maps of this district 
fail to show any craterlike scars within a radius of several miles that 
even remotely resemble a meteoric scar. 
The Sardis meteorite is deeply weathered, and this weathering in 
itself would require considerable time; but here, again, no definite rate 
of weathering can be determined, as different meteorites have different 
degrees of stability. It is true that the Sardis specimen is not the most 
stable of irons. Polished sections cut from some of the larger frag- 
ments that display some iron-nickel alloy will tarnish within a few 
weeks when exposed to the atmosphere in the Museum; however, we 
have every reason to believe that if this same specimen were exposed 
in the open outside air, it would be much more stable. It is difficult 
to prove this by reasoning, but actual experience shows that some 
meteorites placed in the open actually disintegrate less rapidly than 
when placed inside a building. 
As stated, the Sardis meteorite may have fallen a great many 
thousand years ago and have buried itself very deeply into the exposed 
Hawthorne formation. The estimate of 72 inches is only a conserva- 
