Meteorite finds per state? (In Area Per Meteorite Found)

Paul H bristolia at yahoo.com
Sat Dec 11 21:39:23 EST 2004

In
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2004-December/147213.html
,
Frank Prochaska wrote:


>The size of the state (country, county, continent,

>etc.) is only one factor in how many meteorites

>are likely to be found there. Other factors

>include geography (flat, mountains), climate (dry,

>wet), land use (forest, farming), population (a

>few people per square mile, high population

>density), etc. These differences will also

>contribute to the ratios of falls to finds, etc.

>Below is a quick count from the latest Catalog

>of Meteorites (5th ed.). This data is about 5

>years old now, but is handy.


I found a listing of the area of each state in
"Land and Water Area of States, 2000 (in square
miles)" at:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108355.html
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0108355.html

Using the figures from XXX's post and the "total
land area present within each state, I get the
below number of meteorites per square mile for
each state. The order in which data is listed
is State; number of meteorites; (rank in total
area of state); land area in square miles;
(area in square miles per meteorite found).

Alabama 17 (30) 50,744 (2,985)
Alaska 3 (1) 571,951 (190,650)
Arizona 35 (6) 113,635 (3,247)
Arkansas 14 (29) 52,068 (3,719)
California 45 (3) 155,959 (3,464)

Colorado 73 (8) 103,717 (1,421)
Connecticut 4 (48) 4,845 (1,212)
Florida 4 (22) 53,927 (13,481)
Georgia 22 (24) 57,906 (2,632)
Hawaii 2 (43) 6,422 (3,211)

Idaho 6 (14) 82,747 (13,791)
Illinois 7 (25) 55,584 (7,940)
Indiana 12 (38) 35,866 (2,989)
Iowa 7 (26) 55,869 (7,981)
Kansas 133 (15) 81,814 (615)

Kentucky 26 (37) 39,728 (1,528)
Maine 5 (39) 30,861 (6,172)
Maryland 4 (42) 9,773 (2,443)
Massachusetts 1 (44) 7,840 (7,840)
Michigan 9 (11) 56,804 (6,311)

Minnesota 8 (12) 79,610 (9,951)
Mississippi 3 (32) 46,906 (15,635)
Missouri 20 (21) 68,886 (3,444)
Montana 5 (4) 145,552 (29,110)
Nebraska 46 (16) 76,872 (1,671)

Nevada 8 (7) 109,825 (13,728)
New Jersey 1 (47) 7,417 (7,417)
New Mexico 203 (5) 121,355 (598)
New York 11 (27) 47,213 (4,292)
North Carolina 29 (28) 48,710 (1,680)

North Dakota 10 (19) 68,976 (6,898)
Ohio 11 (34) 40,948 (3,722)
Oklahoma 37 (20) 68,667 (1,856)
Oregon 4 (9) 95,997 (23,999)
Pennsylvania 8 (33) 44,817 (5,602)

South Carolina 6 (40) 30,109 (5,018)
South Dakota 13 (17) 75,884 (5,837)
Tennessee 25 (36) 41,217 (1,649)
Texas 278 (2) 261,797 (942)
Utah 15 (13) 82,143 (5,476)

Virginia 12 (35) 39,594 (3,299)
Washington 6 (18) 66,544 (11,090)
West Virginia 3 (41) 24,078 (8,026)
Wisconsin 12 (23) 54,310 (4,526)
Wyoming 12 (10) 97,100 (8,091)

United States 1214 (n/a) 3,537,438 (2,913)

In 1990, there were three states with less
than 1,000 square miles per found meteorite.
They are New Mexico, Kansas, and Texas.

The states with less than 2,000 square miles
per found meteorite in 1990 were Connecticut,
Colorado, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska, North
Carolina, and Oklahoma.


>This is supposed to total 1214 meteorites,

>though I could have missed one or two between

>the states. More have been found since 1999

>of course, particularly in the desert

>southwest.


This is true. Two have been found in
Louisiana, which now makes Louisiana entry
to be:

Louisiana 2 (31) 43,562 (21,781)

If there are now 13 known meteorites from
Wyoming then, it is now:

Wyoming 13 (10) 97,100 (7,469)

In
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2004-December/147215.html
,
Frank Prochaska also wrote:


>Dave is absolutely right! Look at the numbers

>for Kansas and Nebraska and then compare Iowa,


Kansas - 615 square miles per found meteorite
Nebraska - 1,671 square miles per found meteorite
Iowa - 7,981 square miles per found meteorite

Best Regards,

Paul
Baton Rouge, LA