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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



[vol. 50 



nature, enclosing some amorphous matter, numerous shattered and 

 more or less altered quartz granules, and an occasional black, highly 

 lustrous particle, assumed from its association to be chromite. This 

 material gave a strong qualitative reaction for nickel. 



The underlying red sandstone, met with at depths of approximately 

 800 feet from the surface and referred to as forming the "floor" 

 of the crater, was brought up from time to time in the form of short 

 sections of drill cores. These were examined in thin sections, and 

 in no instance did they show any signs whatever of the shattering, 

 fusion, or metamorphism so characteristic of the overlying white 

 sandstone 1 (fig. 127). 



Fig. 127. — Showing Microstructure and Unaltered Character of Sandstone 



Underlying Crater. 



V. The Meteoric Irons 



History of Early finds. — The first public announcement of the 

 finding of meteoric irons near Canyon Diablo was that made by Mr. 

 A. E. Foote at the Washington meeting of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, August 20, 1891. In this paper, 



1 Cores were not available from as many holes as could have been desired. 

 Those examined were of sandstone of a distinctly red hue and from holes 

 Nos. 4, 6, 7, and 8 (see diagram, fig. 125), No. 6 being from a depth of 1,065 

 feet and No. 8 from 1,080 feet below the crater bottom. 



