Coaldale Crater Gemstones, Meteorite Impact Produces Rare Specimens Options

[ASTROBLEME]

Members and Guests of Colorado Prospector,

Many years ago I discovered a highly eroded, geologically complex and very ancient impact crater centered 3 ¼ miles northwest of Coaldale, Colorado (USA). I am announcing this discovery as a long-time contributor to this forum in an effort to assure that the public has access to this information. Dan (the owner and operator of Colorado Prospector) is preparing some of my "Coaldale Crater" specimens for jewelry settings. He has graciously agreed to document his work progress so that others can gain a better understanding of the effort it takes to transform these raw materials into valuable gemstones. Please take time to follow this project along the way. I hope you find the subject interesting.

I'll be sharing the science behind this amazing discovery as our work progresses. This research builds upon my work at Gunnison Crater, Westcliffe Crater, Silver Cliff Crater and Hillside Crater that proved an extension to the 38th Parallel Crater Chain dating to the Late Devonian Period. Although the Coaldale Crater is also along the 38th Parallel, it is not part of the well documented crater chain system. My efforts in the Coaldale Colorado region included collecting field survey data, acquiring and analyzing numerous geologic specimens followed by an extensive review of the relevant scientific literature. The results support an impact event that occurred during the Oligocene Epoch.

For now, I'm providing the attached map depicting the present peak ring exposure. It is fascinating that this impact crater has survived the deep erosion and strong fault deformation that Mother Nature has provided continually over the past 27+ million years.

Sincerely,

ASTROBLEME

[EMac]

Hi Johnny,

Feel free to read back over my question and response: I refer to tektites quite clearly I think, and only edited once previously to correct a hyperlink. I don't see any errors, but if I helped generate the confusion misusing a term, it wasn't purposeful. I suspect context should give us a good clue in those situations if there are any.

What I am guilty of is reading your post too fast last night and posting before leaving. Posting a picture of “shocked quartz” in a thread you start off in bold as Flame Testing confused me since I missed that you changed gears right before the pic. I took the pic to be evidence of your flame testing which wasn’t the case. I’m not sure why you subsequently posted a flamed meteorite pic in response to my errant question; can you point me to any objective material showing what conclusions I/we should draw from your flamed sample? Unfortunately for me, in order to reconcile some of your theories, I have to go look them up. For instance with your “shocked quartz”, I’ve looked at a number of pictures of this known phenomena, and I don’t see the shock lamellae (fine lines in quartz) in your sample that you’re seeing. At least no examples that look like your pic (all examples exhibited light diffraction). I’m still trying to verify your claims around the carbonate accretionary lapilli as well, particularly when compared to other similar images. Doesn't mean you're wrong, but also means you haven't met the threshold necessary to demonstrate you're right.

I know my place here is the FNG that doesn't know crap about mining, geology or chemistry, and I'm ok with that. Everyone starts somewhere, I love this stuff and I’m learning more every day. I also know you're quite well versed in geology and hydrology, and ostensibly successful in your mining endeavors. For that I applaud you, and I genuinely hope to learn from you. That said, I’m not convinced your theories or testing are sound. This puts me in the quandary where I can either say nothing or I can challenge you. Since we'll all gain much more via the latter path, and I have no compunction questioning technical things: that's where we find ourselves. I'll be the first to admit studying tektites and associated meteorites is new to me. Good science and logical arguments are old hats though. Hopefully this dialogue will help you as well.

I suspect much of the confusion stems from the fact I’m not focused on your Coaldale theory; I’m considering any evidence at all three of your impact crater theories. I’ll buy you’re still putting together your work for Coaldale, but you announced your Gunnison theory 10 years ago.

You have an uphill battle since you have a massive conflict of interest. You’re actively marketing Gunnison Crater Tektite^TM on your website, and D&D are cutting Coaldale samples for sale, so you clearly have a financial stake in the outcome of any test results. To me, this raises the bar even more. Doesn't mean you're wrong, but the appearance of impropriety is enough to raise red flags. I’m ultimately driving towards whether you have proof that what you’re selling is indeed tektite and/or meteorite; results beyond descriptive words or a few pictures we can't verify without additional data. From there it would be much easier to dive into and accept that you've discovered new impact craters.

It’s similar to what Bartleson said 10 years ago: “…if Tonko had found tektites associated with Hartman Rocks that it would be an interesting find, but given the current theories of the area's formation the idea of a meteorite impact was a remote possibility.” Simple tests like a flame test of your suspected tektites, or testing showing greater than 4% nickel content in your suspected meteorites would add credence to your theories. Seeing that your website and Colorado Prospector are the only places to find extremely limited info on the Gunnison crater, this gives me significant pause.

Since this is long winded, I’ll cut off my other technical challenges to pause here for comment.

Thanks for entertaining my questions and challenges, and in advance for your patience in answering them. I know I'm being pointed in my challenges, but I hope my respect for your knowledge, work and courage also shines through.

~Eric