Scientists Discover the First Known Meteorite Fragments from The Tunguska Event

The Tunguska Event was a huge explosion that occurred in a remote area of Siberia on June 30, 1908. It was a thousand times as powerful as the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Scientists aren't certain what happened, but the broadest consensus is that a large meteorite or comet hit the earth. A Russian scientist named Andrei Zlobin reveals that he may have fragments from that mysterious celestial object:

This expedition took place in 1988 and for some unexplained reason, Zlobin waited 20 years to examine his haul in detail. But in 2008, he sorted the collection and found three stones with clear evidence of melting and regmalypts, thumblike impressions found on the surface of meteorites which are caused by ablation as the hot rock falls through the atmosphere at high speed.

Zlobin and others have used tree ring evidence to estimate the temperatures that the blast created on the ground and says that these were not high enough to melt rocks on the surface. However, the fireball in the Earth’s atmosphere would have been hot enough for this.

So Zlobin concludes that the rocks must be fragments of whatever body collided with Earth that day. 

Link -via The Presurfer

(Photo: Technology Review)


Newest 2
Newest 2 Comments

Login to comment.




Email This Post to a Friend
"Scientists Discover the First Known Meteorite Fragments from The Tunguska Event"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More