[meteorite-list] Giant Meteorite Wrecked Forest In Siberia?

From: Tom aka James Knudson <knudson911_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:09 2004
Message-ID: <003001c3551c$644cb5e0$dfc343d8_at_malcolm>

Hello list, I am looking forward to Ivan selling some of this on ebay!
Thanks, Tom
Peregrineflier <><
The proudest member of the IMCA 6168
----- Original Message -----
From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
To: Meteorite Mailing List <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 8:17 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Giant Meteorite Wrecked Forest In Siberia?


>
>
>
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1393004,00.htmltop
>
> Giant meteorite wrecked forest
> News 24 (South Africa)
> July 27, 2003
>
> Moscow - A giant meteorite that struck the Irkutsk region of Siberia last
September
> had the force of a nuclear bomb of medium power and devastated a huge area
of taiga,
> Russian scientists reported on Friday.
>
> A 10-strong expedition of scientists and doctors was unable to identify
and reach
> the place where the meteorite landed until mid-May. It was finally located
in the
> very remote, wooded semi-mountainous region of Bodaibo, northeast of
Irkutsk and
> Lake Baikal.
>
> "Over an area of 100 square kilometres trees were smashed in a pattern
> characteristic of very powerful blast effects," expedition leader Vadim
Chernobrov
> told a news conference.
>
> He said that the meteorite had disintegrated before hitting the ground and
had left
> about 20 craters, up to 20 metres in diameter, with an explosion
"equivalent to the
> power of an atomic bomb of medium size".
>
> A video made by the expedition and shown to reporters showed shattered and
sometimes
> burnt tree stumps, charred by the high temperatures released by the
explosion.
>
> Meteorites are large rocks that tumble through space and then get caught
in the
> Earth's gravity, becoming red-hot with the heat of the atmosphere.
>
> Unlike meteors, which burn up completely as they fall and are occasionally
visible
> in the night sky as shooting stars, meteorites are rocks which are so big
they make
> it all the way to the ground.
>
> The brightest such phenomenon ever recorded during human history also
happened over
> Siberia. In 1908 a meteorite hit the Tunguska region, devastating the
forest over
> an area of some 2 000 square kilometres.
>
> Many scientists also believe that in prehistoric times a massive meteorite
that hit
> what is now Central America may have caused the disappearance of the
dinosaurs.
>
>
>
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>
Received on Mon 28 Jul 2003 11:24:49 AM PDT