[meteorite-list] Re: Earth Originating Meteorites

From: Kelly Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:42:06 2004
Message-ID: <3A732C57.9F8A8832_at_bhil.com>

SJHHill_at_aol.com wrote:

> Interesting question. Given the Jupiter impacts several years ago, when
> (range of dates) can we expect the most direct arrivals from that probable
> interplanetary ejection.
> Thanks
> Stuart Hill

Hi, Stuart,
    The production of rocky ejecta depends on impacts on terrestial-style
planets -- bodies with cold rigid lithospheres surrounded by a thin gaseous
envelope. Jupiter is the other style of planet -- giant gasballs without a
solid surface and tremendous internal pressures.
    The fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 that struck Jupiter in 1994 nevertheless
produced huge ejection plumes extending 2000 miles above the atmosphere even
though we don't know how deep into Jupiter the fragments plunged before
vaporizing. Since they were comet fragments we think they were mostly ices and
of course they disrupted in Jupiter's "atmosphere," which is most of the
planet, so no fragments were ejected, only gases.
    I didn't mean to imply that Gladman's study gives time tables, only time
scales. In his simulations, he merely reports what percentage of ejecta ends
up somewhere in the first 10,000 years, and so forth, out to the 10,000,000
year range.

Kelly Webb
Received on Sat 27 Jan 2001 03:15:20 PM PST