[meteorite-list] Scientists Scan Sky For Mysterious 'Big Ice Meteors'

From: Mark Langenfeld <mlangen_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:17:44 2004
Message-ID: <200312111927.hBBJRk7l005168_at_mail3.mx.voyager.net>

Does a terrestrial ice signature in these "megacryometeors" necessarily
preclude an "extraterrestrial" source? From the half-baked lunchtime
musings department: Could the source of these objects be gradually
rentering ice fragments ejected to earth orbit from a major impact to a
deeply glaciated area during one of the last ice ages?

(I have no idea if glacial ice -- even in large pieces -- could survive
the dynamics of such a departure or reentry, but I thought I'd pose the
question anyway. Be gentle.)

Mark

>
>
> http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-ice11.html
>
> Scientists scan sky for mysterious 'big ice meteors'
> BY MICHAEL WOODS
> Scripps Howard News Service
> December 11, 2003
>
> BARCELONA, Spain -- A scientific team is monitoring ice events in the
> United States this winter following research on a baffling phenomenon
first
> detected in Spain.
>
> The Spanish-American team is investigating incidents involving
> ''megacryometeors,'' great balls of ice that fall out of the clear
blue sky,
> possibly because of global warming.
>
> ''I'm not worried that a block of ice may fall on your head,'' said Jesus
> Martinez-Frias of the Center for Astrobiology, in Madrid. ''I'm worried
> that great blocks of ice are forming where they shouldn't exist.''
>
> The term megacryometeors is coined from ''mega,'' which means ''big,''
''cryo''
> for ''ice'' and ''meteor.''
>
> Most weigh 25 to 35 pounds, but one whopper found in Brazil tipped the
scales
> at 440 pounds.
>
> Incidents like those may be just the beginning, according to David
Travis, who
> researches atmospheric conditions that foster megacryometeor
formation. He
> chairs the department of geography and geology at the University of
> Wisconsin-Whitewater.
>
> ''If megacryometeor formation is linked to global warming, as we
suspect, then
> it is fair to assume that these events may increase in the future,''
Travis said.
>
> Martinez-Frias pioneered research on megacryometeors in January 2000,
after ice
> chunks weighing up to 6.6 pounds fell from cloudless skies onto Spain
for 10 days.
> A government scientific research agency thought the ice might be from
a comet, and
> asked him to investigate.
>
> The notion of plummeting ice balls defies more than a century of
research on hail
> formation.
>
> ''Scientists are naturally reluctant to say something never can
happen,'' said
> Charles Knight, a hail expert at the University Corporation for
Atmospheric
> Research in Boulder, Colo. ''But oh, dear. I would be tempted to say
'never'
> on this.''
>
> Knight said he has reviewed papers published on megacryometeors, and
thinks the
> explanation, which involves atmospheric conditions possibly linked to
global
> warming, is wrong.
>
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>

-- 
CoreComm Webmail. 
http://home.core.com

Received on Thu 11 Dec 2003 02:27:46 PM PST