[meteorite-list] falls per year

From: Kelly Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:44:38 2004
Message-ID: <3AAC5FA0.634BBDD9_at_bhil.com>

wilson alveraz wrote:

> What about Mexico? How much falls do we have here in Mexico?
> Thanks
> Wilson
>

Hi, Wilson,

    Mexico has 16 falls and 76 finds, for a total of 92 recoveries.
    The 16 falls date from BOCAS in 1804 to SILAO in 1995. There were falls
in 1844, 1855, 1878, 1881, and 1888. The 1890's were busy: 1895, 1896, and
1899! Then things were real quiet until 1939 when SANTA CRUZ, a carbonaceous
CM2 fell. (This 40 year gap could be real, or it could be due to the
unsettled condition of politics.) Then nothing until 1969 when ALLENDE,
another carbonaceous CV3, 2 tons of pieces, came down. It was followed by a
flurry of falls in 1975, 1976, and 1978. I sometimes wonder if these flurries
(in the 1890's and 1969-1978) of falls are just the usual statistical fluke,
or if people have heard all the fuss about stones falling from the sky, hence
are more aware and observant for a decade or so, and thus notice the falls
more.
    The ratio of finds to falls is good, almost 5 to 1, so it would seem that
the people of Mexico would rank pretty high as observers and recoverers of
meteorites. At least, that was the test I proposed: a high find-to-fall
ratio.

Kelly Webb
Received on Mon 12 Mar 2001 12:33:21 AM PST