[meteorite-list] WG: Asian falls

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:32:17 +0100
Message-ID: <004e01cba78f$1cf45e50$56dd1af0$_at_de>

Hi Jeff, Darryl & Jeff,

I guess, the reason is, that China died.

Let's check the Asian countries with the largest surfaces.

                Russia Kazahstan Mongolia China India

1881-1900 3 0 0 1 14

1901-20 8 0 0 4 20

1921-40 11 4 1 4 14

1941-60 8 0 1 5 6

1961-80 1 1 1 24 6

1981-2000 3 0 1 19 9

2001-10 0 0 0 0 10



Well, how to interprete?


I suppose there are several factors influencing the development of recovery
rates.
In times of major political changes, maybe people have other troubles...
And it depends on the academic tradition of meteoritics in the very country,
and it depends on how much a state is willing to invest into its meteorites.
Finally, I suppose, decisive for recovery rates is, whether a country allows
a private collecting scene or tradition or whether it prevents private
involvement.

Kazahstan, Mongolia - constant.
India - maybe because the Brits then weren't after their meteorites that
much anymore, when India started to emancipate.
That India doesn't follow the trend of raising recoveries happened in my
opinion due to the laws, which prevent ownership, which lead also to giving
up the great scientific tradition in meteoritics in India of the 19th
century. Calcutta was quite the very first national meteorite collection,
before London, Paris, Vienna.

Russia - I don't know, the revolution.. and Vernadsky seems to be on the
rocks for years now. (A twentieth of that what Gazprom pays to a hopelessly
unsuccessful German soccer club a year, could move mountains there).
And because the Russian hunter-kings, of course under economical pressure in
times, where meteorites don't cost a thing anymore, have to focus on hot
desert countries rather or on multiplying the tkws of known historic Russian
and other finds.

China is sad.
I think, if I am rightly informed, that in the second half of the 1990ies,
laws were introduced, which make private ownership on meteorites almost
impossible, prohibit export of meteorites and allows to owners of old
collections only to sell still to national institutes, which dictate the
price.
So no private collector- and huntership can be established, neither there
are any incentives to report finds of observed falls to the authorities, if
that causes only troubles.

Well, these conjectures, that restriction leads to a dry-out of meteorites
as well as to an abandoning of first-class meteoritics, there are
indications for that,
if we compare a meteoritically liberal country with a country where the
insuperable egoism of a small minority suppresses any private activities:



Published Finds by Year of find:
               
Meteoritically Liberal Meanwhile Totalitarian
                        USA Australia

1821-40 20 0

1841-60 40 3

1861-80 48 6

1881-1900 100 20

1901-20 89 30

1921-40 261 35

1941-60 169 39

1961-80 349 161

1981-2000 286 314

2001-10 386 15 (!)


In my opinion: Outrageous.
(If employed in free economy, the protagonists responsible for that
"performance" in the 2nd country would have been dismissed long ago.)

Australia had the perfect development.
Note the Ward/Foote/Nininger bellies in USA and the increment due to the
private hunters of the recent years.
In Australia similar proportionate growth rates would have been to expect.
Instead they stalled all by their paranoid laws. And felt 100 years back in
time within only one decade.

Btw. if I see, what for struggles with their budgets institutes and museums,
where serious meteorite science and collecting activity is carried out, do
have in other countries, I think, it's a pretty scandal that some millions
are spent now for the Australian fireball network - there are many places,
where these funds would be better invested for the sake of meteorite
science.

If the Aussies would be really so dedicated and eager to recover new
meteorites, like they stated in the description, they applied for these
funds for the fireball net with,
they would spend a day less in the outback on the hunt for the blue-tongued
lizard and would rather keep their noses on the grindstone (I have a strange
dictionary...) to design and to enforce a revision of their catastrophic
meteorite laws.
I guess, the MetSoc meeting in Perth should be a development assistance
congress.


What happens if you manage to kick the privateers out? Voila:

Find rates of Libya:

1800-1985 2
1986 60
1987 0
1988 2
1989 0
1990 44
1991 4
1992 0
1993 0
1994 41
1995 181
1996 163
1997 322
1998 213
1999 195
2000 197
2001 19
2002 12
2003 7
2004 2
2005 1
2006 2
2007 2
2008 2
2009 0
2010 0

R.I.P.


Maybe now at least some get aware of that, what is currently on stake with
Northwest Africa and Oman,
or in countries, which had anyway so few meteorites like Poland, Argentina,
now Brazil..such a miserable mess.

Well, I can fully understand, if my butcher isn't interested in meteorites
at all,
though I'm really terribly sorry - I can't understand, how individuals, who
claim themselves to be professional meteorite scientists, meteorite
curators, meteoricists, meteorite experts can applaud to these disastrous
and dangerous changes, or could advocate measures in their countries, which
lead to this development.
And those, who invoke the vocable "heritage", let it be "natural" or even
"cultural" (sic!)... I mean, if we take stock of that what they have done
all in all...., That is sheer disrespect, and additionally a mockery of 200
years of serious science and their famous forerunners.

I ask to abstain from bashing the messenger.
(especially cause other than the prohibitionists I'm unfortunately not paid
for the silly tirades I publically excrete :-(

These are banalities, the stats from the official Meteoritical Bulletin,
evident and accessible for everyone.
The beef.

That's why the Met.Bull is so important and we have to thank Jeff and all
involved in that great task.

Happy & peaceful New Year in advance,
with many new meteorites for those, who deserve them
and for the others, may it be "the year we make contact",
contact with reason.

Martin



-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Jeff
Grossman
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 29. Dezember 2010 03:40
An: Meteorite-list
Betreff: [meteorite-list] Asian falls

List,

I've been maintaining the Wikipedia page on meteorites fall statistics
for a number of years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_fall_statistics

On this page is a table showing the number of falls by continent,
divided into 20-year intervals. We are now halfway through the
2001-2020 interval, and fall rates in most places are about what you'd
expect based on the previous 40 years. However, Asian falls are way
down... there have been 13 published in MetBull for the last 10 years,
around half the number you might expect. Anybody care to speculate why
this is?

Jeff
______________________________________________
Visit the Archives at
http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Wed 29 Dec 2010 02:32:17 PM PST