[sotd] Barringer Meteorite Crater [July 18, 2007]
- From: "The Site of the Day" <sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:57:31 -0300
Site of the Day for Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Barringer Meteorite Crater, Impact Theory and Meteor Craters
Today's site provides information about one of the largest meteor craters
on the continent. Gentle Subscribers will discover the history of
scientific investigation surrounding this crater, along with the latest
theories on the effects of meteor strikes.
"The Barringer Meteorite Crater .. is a gigantic hole in the middle of the
arid sandstone of the Arizona desert. A rim of smashed and jumbled
boulders, some of them the size of small houses, rises 150 feet above the
level of the surrounding plain. The crater itself is nearly a mile wide,
and 570 feet deep. When Europeans first discovered the crater, the plain
around it was covered with chunks of meteoritic iron - over 30 tons of it,
scattered over an area 8 to 10 miles in diameter." - from the website
The presentation explores the crater, now officially known by the name of
the mining engineer, Daniel Moreau Barringer, who led the essential
scientific investigation on the site beginning near the turn of the
twentieth century. Covering the scientific thesis explaining its creation
and what happened to the meteorite, the exhibit uses helpful diagrams to
illustrate the science behind the hole, with a focus on the pioneering work
of Eugene Shoemaker in the 1960's. Details of his work, along with that of
Alvarez brothers, whose research resulted in the hypothesis of meteor
impact on the dinosaur extinction, is also included.
Jump over to the site for an interesting look at one of North America's
most famous impact craters at:
http://www.barringercrater.com/
A.M. Holm
<admin-sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at:
<//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and
<//www.freelists.org/archives/sotd>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
unsubscribe in the Subject field.
Other related posts:
- » [sotd] Barringer Meteorite Crater [July 18, 2007]
