Carancas (meteorite)

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Fragment of the meteorite (collected a few days after the fall)

Relief Map: Peru
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Carancas (meteorite)​
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Peru

The Carancas meteoroid struck on September 15, 2007 at 11:45 am local time near the Peruvian village of Carancas, 11 km south of the city of Desaguadero in the Desaguadero district ( Chucuito province ). There, south of Lake Titicaca in the Andes , not far from the border with Bolivia , it left an impact crater around 14 meters in size and a sulphurous smell. Meteorite fragments were found in the area and they are called Carancas .

Observations and investigations

The meteor crossed the atmosphere in a few seconds as a massive ball of fire that shone brighter than the sun. Surprisingly, the breaking of the meteoroid could not be observed by eyewitnesses. The celestial body came from a north-northeast direction and hit soft, water-saturated ground. A plume of smoke remained in the sky and a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke, steam, and dust rose at the point of impact. The ground shook like an earthquake. The impact left a crater almost 14 m in diameter, 5 m deep and a wall up to 1 m high above the surrounding area. In an infirmary 1 km away, windows were broken. Eyewitnesses reported boiling water in the crater, which was still observed half an hour after the impact. Rising steam with a sulphurous smell caused severe headaches and nausea for many residents. The noise associated with the impact could still be heard in the town of Desaguadero, 20 km away, and lasted 15 minutes. Ejected material up to 5 cm in diameter was found at a distance of 200 m. Three days after the impact, the crater was already filled with groundwater up to 1 m below the original surface. Fragile rock samples collected and examined by scientists contained iron inclusions as well as silicates , as they are known from many meteorites. Due to the nature and composition of the meteorite fragments, it was assumed early on that it was a chondrite . The meteorite expert Dr. Harold Connolly has examined fragments and classifies the meteorite as ordinary chondrites of subclass H4 / 5.

In La Paz , 70 km from the crater, the infrasound of the meteoroid impact was recorded. From the strength of the air pressure wave, Professor Peter Brown from the “University of Western Ontario” calculated a kinetic impact energy of around 0.03  kT TNT .

In a press release on January 21, 2008, the Humboldt University of Berlin announced that it would investigate the meteoroid impact in detail.

39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

On the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference that from 10th to 14th March, 2008 League City ( Texas took place), further scientific findings were presented. Scientists then assume that the original meteoroid was several meters tall and had a mass of at least 10 tons. The initial speed was between 12 and 16 km / s; the impact speed was unusually high and was at least 3 km / s, but the meteoroid could also have been up to 6 km / s. This is suggested by “planar deformation features” found in some ejecta minerals. The impact mass should have been around 3 t, and the released energy corresponded to 2 t TNT. The H4 / H5 chondrite had high levels of iron, nickel and troilite , a sulfur compound that is easily broken down at high temperatures. The sulfur gases, which led to short-term symptoms of illness in the people at the crater, are therefore very likely to be due to powdered Troilit.

A new, unexpected finding is that even relatively small stone meteoroids can traverse the earth's air envelope in one piece and then hit the earth's surface much faster than in free fall.

Future of the crater

Shortly after the meteorite fell, the crater was guarded by police officers and then surrounded with a fence. The crater should be protected from destruction by precipitation and river water. For this purpose, a large tarpaulin was later stretched over the site. The construction of a museum is planned and the impact crater is to be preserved. However, just a few months after the event, the crater was already very much flattened and resembled a hollow.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Meteoritical Bulletin Database
  2. ↑ http://space.newscientist.com ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / space.newscientist.com
  3. ↑ Michael Farmer website
  4. ↑ http://www.ingemmet.gob.pe (PDF; 1.0 MB)
  5. ^ Lionel E. Jackson, Peter Brown, Jay Melosh, Dolores Hill: Meteorite Strikes Peru! geotimes.org, July 2008, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  6. ↑ spaceweather.com October 9, 2007
  7. ↑ Natural History Museum Berlin
  8. ^ 39. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
  9. ^ Report: Results of the meteorite fall of Peru published
  10. ↑ WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE “CARANCAS-DESAGUADERO” FIREBALL, METEORITE AND IMPACT CRATER? (PDF; 218 kB)
  11. ↑ PRELIMINARY PETROLOGIC ANALYSIS OF IMPACT DEFORMATION IN THE CARANCAS (PERU) CRATERING EVENT. (PDF; 233 kB)
  12. ↑ Report: 8 months later: Visit to the meteorite crater of Carancas

Web links

Coordinates: 16 ° 39 ′ 52.3 ″  S , 69 ° 2 ′ 38.9 ″  W.