[meteorite-list] new crater in siberia

From: John Sinclair <JSinclairJr_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:04 2004
Message-ID: <002501c27ea6$c45b8bc0$77c91a42_at_triad.rr.com>

Cash plea for space impact study
By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2309117.stm

Scientists investigating what is believed to be a "significant" fresh
meteoroid impact crater in a remote part of Siberia are begging for funds to
mount an expedition.
A British meteorite expert has called on the international community to help
Russian researchers get to the impact site, which may be of major scientific
importance.

It is imperative that US and UK funding bodies to support our Russian
colleagues in their investigation of the Siberian impact

Benny Peiser, John Moores University, Liverpool
Hunters in the region say they have seen a large crater surrounded by burned
forest.

Vladimir Polyakov, of the Institute of Solar and Terrestrial Physics in
Moscow, said: Specialists have no doubt that it is a meteorite that fell
into the taiga on Thursday."

Middle-power Earthquake

Polyakov says there were more than 100 eyewitnesses to the event.

He added that scientists believed them. He said instruments rarely recorded
the impacts of meteoroids and so eyewitnesses were practically the only
source of information for such events.

Kirill Levi, vice-director of the Earth Crust Institute in Siberia, said:
"The seismic monitoring station located near the event site recorded the
moment of impact recording seismic waves comparable to a middle-power
earthquake."

Vladimir Polyakov added that it was impossible to send a state-funded
expedition to the site, which lies in Bodaibo district, Irkutsk region,
without approval from the Meteorite Studies Center in Moscow.

Bodaibo residents say they witnessed the fall of a very large, luminous
body, which looked like a huge boulder.

No funds

Scientists in Irkutsk have sent a report to Moscow along with a request for
funds to mount an expedition but have had no reply.

Benny Peiser, of Liverpool John Moores University, UK, said: "We appear to
be dealing with a significant impact event."

He told BBC News Online: "It is imperative that US and UK funding bodies
support our Russian colleagues in their investigation of the Siberian
impact.

"The resources required for sending a scientific expedition to the epicentre
of the event would be very moderate but could yield vital information about
the impact threat that concerns every citizen of the world."
Received on Mon 28 Oct 2002 12:23:27 PM PST