[meteorite-list] Temperature of meteorites

From: Mark Grossman <markig_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:14:54 -0500
Message-ID: <2B0B77C9247F4463BBE1E22254EE6900_at_QED>

Hi,

Ursula Marvin has attributed many of the reports of hot stones with a
sulphurous smell to a "fire and brimstone" expectation on the part of the
observers, especially for the older historic falls. She notes that the
reports of hot stones still exist - primarily due to what observers think a
meteorite should be like when it is recovered - but the sulphurous smell
seems to have subsided. She references a 1974 paper by Sears. See D.W.
Sears, 'Why did meteorites lose their smell?', Journal of the British
Astronomical Association 84 (1974), 299-300.

See Marvin's chapter "Meteorites in History" in The History of Meteoritics
and Key Meteorite Collections: Fireballs, Falls and Finds, G.J.H. McCall, A.
J. Bowden and R. J. Howarth editors (Geological Society, London: 2007),
15-71. Her reference to the hot and sulphurous stones is on page 54.

Mark

Mark Grossman
Briarcliff Manor, NY
Received on Tue 23 Nov 2010 12:14:54 PM PST