[meteorite-list] Peruvian Crater meteorite

From: Bjorn Sorheim <astrogeo_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:23:24 +0200
Message-ID: <6.2.1.2.2.20070921215807.03ff2be0_at_pop.online.no>

I sent this on wedensday (07-09-19), but it never came to the list.
Art said he found it, blocked because it was html, and had released it
to the list, still it didn't arrive...
So I post it here again.

> From: Bjorn Sorheim [astrogeo at online.no]
> Sent: 2007-09-19 17:59:00 CEST
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Peruvian Crater meteorite
>
>
> List,
> Based on a video I saw about this from a norwegian newspaper site
> I dare to come with a first classification based on looks
> of what most probably is chondrite fragments, and taking into
> account meteorite type fall statistics:
>
> I propose it's a L5/6 chondrite.
>
> (Probably no great surprise to you).
> And I think the smell and health problems come from what is exposed
> in the earthly ground there and NOT from the meteorite.
>
> Bj?rn S?rheim

I could add that I personally see no features with this incident that does
*not fit
with a large meteorite impact*. In fact the smell and possible health problems
is the natural consequence of just large impacts, and there are very few of
those.
One could only fear the effect of even larger meteorite impacts near or at
populated
places.

Also health problems is caused by the pretty remarkable fact that inhabited
buildings
and the small town of Carancas were only a few hundred (500m?) away.
Could there be other impacts in the area?

It's too bad that no high quality images of the meteorite samples have
appeared.
It should be fairly ease to get a good grasp of them being meteorites or not by
such evidence. They have a high iron content according to the
Geophysics Institute of Peru.

Concerning large impacts there are of course:
Sikhote Alin, Russia, iron,1947, many craters up to 28 meters diameter
Jilin, China, stony, 1976, crater 2-3 m diameter (largest stony fall so
far ~4 tonns)
Sterlitamak, Russia, iron, 1990, crater 10 m diameter
Kunya-Urgench, Turkimenstan, stony,1998, crater 6 m diameter

Bj?rn S?rheim
Received on Fri 21 Sep 2007 04:23:24 PM PDT