[meteorite-list] New Peru article

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 00:28:14 -0500
Message-ID: <049501c80647$5da75070$b92ee146_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi,

    The only good news here is that the notorious
"meteoritotrafficantes americanos" have hopefully
slipped across the bandit border into Boliva.

> police had searched for the meteorite hunters
> at their hotel but were unable to catch them
> because they had left.

    I was thinking it was getting near the time to
get out of Dodge; wasn't everybody? Mike, get
out of there.

    It will be interesting to watch the local scientific
authorities remove the massive multi-ton meteorite
from the muddy pit, from under five meters of water,
without draining it, as they said they would, before
the crater vanishes in a few months (as they also
said it would). Just kidding.

    Only problem is, after kicking numbers and
reports around for a day or two, I don't think that
there's anything under that mud but more mud.
According to the INGEMMET report, the windows
of a dwelling over 1000 meters away from the crater
were broken and blown out by the impact. I believe
that is diagnostic of a hypersonic impact (greater
than 340 m/s).

    Using the figure for average terrestrial rock, it
only takes about 100 joules per gram to powder it
to dust. At the speed of sound, each gram of the
meteoroid has 60 joules of kinetic energy; at Mach
1.3 (450 m/s), it has 100 joules per gram. At 1000 m/s
(or about Mach 3), it has over 500 joules per gram.

    Mike Farmer said, "The meteorite is very fragile,
very porous..." I doubt very much that it would take
100 joules (granite takes 100 joules) to be dusted.
Mike also mentioned locally taken photos that showed
"incredible amounts of meteorite powder."

    And lastly, it seems from those photos Mike saw
(and the photgrapher's story) that the fireball's ablative
smoke trail was visible pretty much all the way to the
crater location and the mushroom cloud. That would
mean that the object was in ablative flight all the way
to the ground. (It's worthwhile to point out that ablation
requires more than "merely" hypersonic speeds.)

    Then there's Dr. Daniels a.k.a. Gregory's report of
the tiny dust-like particles he meteoritotrafficanted from
a little old lady -- that's evidence that the crushing strength
of the material was exceeded, and because it was outside
the crater, must have come from the most protected
part of the impactor: its backside.

    That meteorite is dust. No matter what it massed,
there's nothing in that mudpit.

    And it's OK with me if I'm wrong and somebody
winches a ton or two of meteorite out of the mud; it
would be a great day. But... don't hold your breath.


Sterling K. Webb
--------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse at charter.net>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 10:59 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] New Peru article


http://www.livinginperu.com/news-4832-environmentnature-meteorite-crater-guarded-perus-police-after-u-s-citizens-attempt-traffick-it

Latest News in Peru / Archive
Environment/Nature | 3 October, 2007 [ 16:00 ]

Meteorite Crater Guarded by Peru's Police after U.S. Citizens Attempt to
Traffick it

(LIP-ir) -- Peru's official government news agency reported yesterday that
the
crater where a meteorite fell in Puno, Peru was being guarded by 20 of
Peru's
National Police officers.

Chief of the police station, Major Victor Anaya stated that the officers had
been placed near the meteorite landing site to keep a group of U.S. citizens
from trafficking pieces of the meteorite.

On Monday October 1, Ronald Woodman, the president of Peru's Geophysics
Institute (IGP) claimed that a group of U.S. citizens, led by Michael
Farmer,
were attempting to traffick pieces of the meteorite.

Woodman stated that Farmer was a known meteorite hunter that searched for
meteorites around the world and sold them to collectors. He stated, "They
planned to start digging today and take them out of the country. This is
worth
money, and they are taking them to sell them not to study them."

The Geophysics president expressed his discontent with respect to the team
led
by Farmer. He stated that they were taking advantage of the townspeoples
ignorance, stating that the meteorite was worth much more than what they
were
paying.

Anaya reported that police had searched for the meteorite hunters at their
hotel
but were unable to catch them because they had left. He explained that the
U.S.
citizens had urged the townspeople to collect samples, causing some of them
to
attempt to drain the water from the crater
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Received on Thu 04 Oct 2007 01:28:14 AM PDT