The reason I never showed this rock to science when I first found it was because I was selfish. I didn't know what the rules of meteorite ownership might be and I was afraid that the scientist would take the rock from me and I wouldn't have my "miracle" any more. Now that I am more mature and recognize the importance to humanity and am trying to give it to scientist, they won't even look. Kinda ironic isn't it? Also, when I first decided the rock was probably from Mars (about three days after I found it) I was disappointed because I wanted a "piece of space" that was older and came from farther away, much like a common meteorite would represent. Another irony.

I don't know if you are still interested but I have found the dividing line between the old (49ma) red rock and the younger (13ma) gray rock. There is a layer of butterscotch sandy material between the two layers. In some ways, this 2mm line of sand represents the 36 million years which separate the two lavas. As a matter of comparison, the dinosaurs died at about 65ma, the red rock was formed at 49ma, the Rio Grande Rift was active from 36ma-20ma, the gray rock was formed at 13ma, the Rio Grande rift became active again at 12ma, the Himalayas were uplifted at 5ma, the ascent of man at 3ma, and I find the rock a few years ago. And almost all of this time is represented by this very delicate rock that fell from the sky 25+ years ago. Here is the picture.

The upper portion around the hole is the newer gray rock. The butterscotch colored sand is clearly visible between the two layers of lava. The red and older rock is at the bottom. It shows some fusion crust since the red rock is on the outer surface of the rock at this point. It is very improbable that this delicate rock could exist on Earth for that long without being turned to dust. It is also improbable that this tiny layer of material could represent 36 million years of erosion on the planet Earth.

Keep up the good work and I hope today is better than yesterday for you.

Your friend,