[meteorite-list] Massive Meteor Hits China in 1976 (Jilin Meteorite)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2013 12:35:24 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201303082035.r28KZOiv020144_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.geekosystem.com/tigh-meteorite-hits-china/

Today in Geek History: Massive Meteor Hits China
by Jeff LaSala
March 8, 2013

Space debris is fascinating, fun, and sometimes scary. The meteorite
pieces that rained down on Russia's Chelyabinsk region last month hit
with the force of 30 atomic bombs, but these were not the largest
we've seen or recovered. On this day in 1976, a meteor entered Earth's
atmosphere, broke up, and erupted into a massive fireball over the
outskirts of Jilin City in northern China. Around four metric tons of
extraterrestrial rock - scattered radially in all directions.

It must have been a fearsome event. The thunderous roar and the echoes
that followed lasted 4 or 5 minutes and were heard by over a million
people. The shower covered an area greater than 310 square miles. A
survey team was sent out by the Chinese Academy of Science, who
collected hundreds of meteorites ranging in size from 1 pound to
3,894 pounds - the latter was the largest modern meteorite we'd
ever recovered.

Samples from the meteorites were analyzed and identified as an H-group
(olivine-bronzite) chondrite - chondrite being an accreted form of
dust and grains from the depths of outer space, little tiny fragments of
the young Solar System. The largest individual chunk of chondrite ever
found remains the one recovered from China's 1976 meteorite shower.

Not the largest piece of chondrite ever found, but chondrite nonetheless.

Of course, there are larger, heavier meteorites on Earth, but the
biggest among them - like Hoba, the 60-ton chunk of rock in southern
Africa - hit the planet when humanity itself was still in diapers.
Received on Fri 08 Mar 2013 03:35:24 PM PST