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Re: Earth meteorites?
Looking at my last post, I realized it was somewhat off the mark,
and sort of muddled in ambiguity. I was tring to say that a fusion
crusted Earth rock is unlikely, NOT impossible, just unlikely, and what
we see are tektites, due to the force needed to liberate material from
the planet Earth.
The physics of impact craters do not really relate impact
velocity, to the amount of material ejected into space. I have found
equations relating to ejecta blankets, and boulder piles around crater
rims, but nothing in way of tektite/Earth meteorite formation. I will
look harder, and keep all posted on what I find.
We should not be disuaded by such lacking information, as the
answer to the question is possibly, simple deduction. For material to be
ejected into space, it must over come the gravitational field of the body
it originated on. For Earth, this is 11.5 km/sec, a large number to say
the least. To visualize this, think of the fuel, and power the Space
Shuttle produces when it takes off, as it too has to reach the above
stated speed.
Lets look at Mars, and the Moon. Mars has an escape velocity of
5km/sec, and the Moon has one of 2.3km/sec. If we look at their
meteorites we see that Mars meteorites suffered an intense shock,
indicated by the maskylinite found among the minerals. The Moon's
meteorites have a less severe shocking, and shows only minor alteration.
An impact would have to be very large and powerful to overcome
the gravitation of Earth, as most all ejecta fall back in the same area.
In order to liberate the material from Earth, the force and power would
create such a heat that it would melt the rock in which the impact
occured, leaving no unaltered rock to be ejected.
So the answer to Mr Baalke's question is this: Earth meteorites
are possible, but improbable, and I have not found any information
indicating any suspected Earth meteorites. I apologize for the long winded
answer, and the ambiguities of the previous post. Before I end this
post, I must say, that I am still looking into this, and may revise the
above statements.
Frank Stroik
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