[meteorite-list] Publications of the Carancas event ADDITIONAL

From: Charlie Devine <moonrock25_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:02:28 -0400
Message-ID: <17127-470C24A4-1620_at_storefull-3313.bay.webtv.net>

You wrote:

>It may have been only the less energetic
>vaporization of the 5% to 8% of the
>meteorite that was troilite that was the
>"bright flash" rather then the vaporization
>of the entire stone. Still, that alone would
>have been enough to shatter the impactor
>into fragments (or dust).

If that were the scenario, would an observation posted to the list on
10/5 by Piper R. W. Hollier
seem a reasonable expectation: "Troilite dissociates at high
temperatures (e.g. hypersonic impact), releasing hot sulphur vapor,
which in turn will oxidize in air to form sulphur dioxide, a very
irritating poison".
At the time Piper's theory as to why all the sickness was reported
seemed to me to be the best explanation for the reports. Would the
above scenario support that notion?

Charlie D.
Received on Tue 09 Oct 2007 09:02:28 PM PDT