[meteorite-list] TSCHERMAK G. (1885)

From: bernd.pauli_at_paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:49 2004
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000003F00001BBE_at_paulinet.de>

TSCHERMAK G. (1885) Die mikroskopische Beschaffenheit
der Meteoriten (Stuttgart E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlags-
handlung, E. Koch, 23 pp.).

English Translation: The Microscopic Properties of Meteorites, Vol. 4,
No. 6 (Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics, Washington, D.C., 1964).

General Characteristics of Meteorites

Exterior form

Meteorites are irregular in shape, being bounded by the surfaces that are produced
by chance in the breaking of massive rock. Thus, they have the form of fragments.
However, their edges are frequently rounded off, and uneven surfaces are smoothed.
Nearly all meteorites are coated with a dark crust, showing evidence, of melting and
sometimes also of fluid flow; this is usually called a fusion crust. The crust, on iron
meteorites has the appearance and characteristics of hammer scale, being, like the
latter, an oxidation layer. The rounding off of meteorites and the formation of crusts
and flow structures are understood as the effects of air resistance and heat formed
by the compression of air when objects enter the atmosphere at planetary velocities.
Received on Fri 12 Mar 2004 03:08:42 PM PST