In “The Life of Slag/Slag-glass ...was What is this?” at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg113477.html
MEM wrote:
“I was explaining the multitude of reasons that slag is
found virtually everywhere--including Revolutionary
and Civil War foundries, long left abandoned to rural
pastures when I had someone once argue that his
specimen couldn't be slag from a rail road because
there had never been a railroad within miles. I then
showed him on the topo map where an abandoned
rail right-of-way was less than 200 yards from the
dirt road he found his "meteor-wrong" along.”
A person brought me a basketball-size piece of fresh
brownish green glass that he found in Little Rock,
Arkansas while bulldozer a site for a strip mall. It was
quickly identified as steel foundry slag glass that is
quite popular in Arkansas for use in decorating their
gardens and other landscaping. This type of steel
foundry slag glass can be seen as, often large, blocks
of colorful blue, bluish-green, greenish, yellow, red,
white, orange, purple, and so forth slag glass lying
on large tables in front of Arkansas rock shops in and
between Murfreesboro to Hot Springs areas. From
what I have fond, the slag originally came from
foundry at Fort Smith in Sebastian County, Arkansas,
and is now imported from other states. This slag glass
can also be found in rock shops all over the United
States, in people's gardens and fish tanks everywhere,
and for sale all on ebay. A person does not need to
even be next to a railroad to find it.
Fortunately, he did not believe this material to be
a meteorite. He did think it was possibly a really
weird obsidian.
Go see
J. Michael Howard answers questions about
Geology, Rock Types, and Earth Science
http://www.rockhoundingar.com/askmikeygeology.php
Slag Glass – tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/slag%20glass
Obsidian in Oklahoma?
http://arrowheads.com/forums/learn-about-material-types/18761-obsidian-in-oklahoma
Slag glass near Austin for those lucky folks going to SAMA
http://www.mosaicandstainedglass.org/forums/index.php?topic=6753.0
Yours,
Paul H.
