[meteorite-list] Tunguska wood

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jun 21 16:31:57 2006
Message-ID: <003401c69571$b9505310$b0e5fb44_at_ATARIENGINE>

Dave,

    I hate to quibble... Oh, who am
I kidding? I love to quibble!
    The Earth rotates counter-clockwise
when viewed from above its north pole,
so next in line for being whacked by
Tunguska is the rest of Russia, eastern
Europe, western Europe, England...
    A later impact would appear very
nicely aligned with Begium, a nation
that is just about the size of the zone
of complete blast devastation of
Tunguska.
    The interpretation of the barometric
record varies of course. I make it about
32 megatons +/- 20% by calibrating
the witness reports to the infrared flux,
deriving a black body temp, etc., etc.,
or 26 to 39 megatons. Other estimates
go as low as 15-18 megatons; most
are 20-25 mTons; one other says 40.
How about 30?
    If that was its magnitude, you could
reasonably expect a daytime T-Event
centered over Belgium to kill 90% of
the human population; or if it was "only"
15 mTons, 60% of the population of
Belgium.
    It lines up a little off-center for the
next densely populated target: London,
but I think you could have counted on
4-5 million deaths there, well exceeding
the nastier imaginings of Mr. Wells and
his Martians...


Sterling K. Webb
-----------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Harris" <entropydave_at_ntlworld.com>
To: "metlist" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 3:02 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Tunguska wood


> So... I got my Tunguska wood yesterday
>
> I am very pleased with the sample I must say - and when I counted the
> rings
> - it was correct!
> This is something I remember being told about since I was a little 'un.
> As
> it happened in 1908 - they couldn't blame nukes - but just imagine the
> consequences of it happening 4 hours later over the eastern seaboard of
> the
> USA....
>
> Fantastic - a piece of "Ripley's Believe it or not" coming true!
>
> And Matteo,
> Yep, I guess one has to ask the Uni of Bologna very nicely!
>
>
> Thanks for your indulgence in letting me boast about my new acquisition!
>
> Dave
> IMCA #0092
> Sec. BIMS
> www.bimsociety.org
>
Received on Wed 21 Jun 2006 04:31:48 PM PDT