[meteorite-list] Serious question?

From: joseph_town_at_att.net <joseph_town_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:56 2004
Message-ID: <20030916230121.C668E53619_at_pairlist.net>

Philip,

The concept of a red planet as the result of meteorite bombardment is absurd.
As you and others have pointed out, water and oxygen are not necessary for
oxidization. We have plenty of areas on earth that are pretty bleak but we
all know about geological time as opposed to our own inabilaty to comprehend
it in a real sense and the amazing affects of weather and all the rest. My
only point was that given the fact that iron can turn into red stuff as the
result of a variety of reactions, why isn't the earth's moon very very red?
Mars has a violent atmosphere that should mix all that "meteoric" debris up?
This is only a question as a student might ask. I'm not trying to engage in a
debate.

Thanks very much for any consideration,
Bill Kieskowski


  
> At 09:05 PM 9/16/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>
> >Good point Tom. Also, Philip, I apologise for the fact that I don't have
the
> >link to the info. about oxidization without the element oxygen, in whatever
> >compound. It's way beyond me. Are so many well educated people so set in
> >their ways as to disregard the obvious?
>
> I'm not sure what you're asking. Is oxidation possible without oxygen?
> Sure, that's basic chemistry. All oxidations involve a transfer of
> electrons from one thing to another thing. That other thing receiving the
> electrons is the oxidation agent, which is often but not always oxygen.
>
> Are you asking if someone has proposed that a non-oxygen-based oxidation
> process is responsible for the red color of Mars? I don't know the answer
> to that.
>
>
> -- Philip R. "Pib" Burns
> pib_at_pibburns.com
> http://www.pibburns.com/
>
>
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Received on Tue 16 Sep 2003 07:01:19 PM PDT