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,[3] 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.
[3] The Origin of Hypotheses. 1895.
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:
