Including Original "Paul H. Letters" Copyright © 1996-2024 Paul V. Heinrich / website © 1996-2024 Dirk Ross - All rights reserved.



Monday 14 October 2024

Kamil Crater, Egypt, "Strip-mined" and Destroyed by Meteorite Criminals 13OCT2024

Kamil Crater, Egypt, "Strip-mined" and Destroyed by Meteorite Criminals 13OCT2024

Kamil Crater, Egypt Shortly After Discovery in 2009- click on image to enlarge

I was looking at Wikipedia at the write up about the Kamil Crater at 22° 1'5.89"N latitude and 26° 5'15.69"E longitude. A recent addition to the article by Enrique Díaz-Martínez, Spain at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamil_Crater
states:

"According to evidence provided by Google Earth images, Kamil crater morphology and its prototypical rayed structure (well-preserved radiating features) have been destroyed between 2020 and 2023, most probably due to exhaustive plundering of meteorite fragments. The last image of the well preserved crater is of February 2020, whereas it is fully destroyed in the next image dated May 2023, so it was destroyed between those two dates. The size of the wheel tracks visible on trails to/from the former crater indicate that heavy machinery was used for the collection of meteoritic material.”

Kamil Crater, Egypt, Approx. 2022/23
-click on image to enlarge

Kamil Crater, Egypt, Completely Destroyed Image Approx. May 2023
-click on image to enlarge

The note was added on October 10, 2024
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kamil_Crater&diff=prev&oldid=1250464561

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Ediazmartinez

I looked at the Google Earth images and essentially agree with what is written. Although the exact timeline is open to interpretation, the aerial images do show that this crater, which is a protected site, has been destroyed by people illegally mining it presumably for iron meteorite fragments and spherules. Heavy machinery, presumably electromagnets and other methods were used to vandalize, desecrate, and otherwise destroy this irreplaceable part of the Egypt's geological heritage for personal gain.

Undoubtedly, there are stolen Egyptian meteorites are already in the marketplace for sale somewhere.

Yours,

Paul H.

Wednesday 9 October 2024

Fireball Movie Question- Korea Expedition for Antarctic Meteorites, KOREAMET 08OCT2024

Fireball Movie Question- Korea Expedition for Antarctic Meteorites, KOREAMET  08OCT2024

In [meteorite-list] Fireball Movie Question on Tue, 01 Oct. 2024, Rhett Bourland asked:

>My question is, does anyone know what meteorite they found?

I was not able to determine an answer to this question. A more detailed examination of the below papers might help.

>If you don't know, can someone point me towards some information about the material found by the South Korean team over the years?


I found a few publications using Google Scholar searching for-
"Korea Expedition for Antarctic Meteorites" / "KOREAMET”.

Some of these reports are archived at the "KOPRI depository" at
https://repository.kopri.re.kr/simple-search?query=KOREAMET

KOPRI stands for "Korea Polar Research Institute of Marine Research”.

They include:

이종익, 2009. 2006-2008 Korea Expedition for Antarctic Meteorites (KOREAMET). 
지질학회지, 45(6), pp.621-637.
https://repository.kopri.re.kr/bitstream/201206/6643/1/2010_5_3_2010-003.pdf

최변각, 박창근, 안인수 and 이종익, 2009. Classification and petrological and geochemical characteristics of Antarctic meteorites found by 1st, 2nd and 3rd KOREAMET. 지질학회지,
45(6), pp.593-605.

Park, C., Baek, J., Ha, S., Nagao, K., Park, S., Ahn, I., Moon, J.J., Yoo, I.S. and Lee, J.I., 2015. 
Report on classification of Antarctic meteorites from the 2014/15 KOREAMET season.
https://repository.kopri.re.kr/bitstream/201206/7137/1/221507.pdf

Yours.

Paul H.

Wednesday 25 September 2024

This Might Be the Weirdest Rock Ever Found on Mars 25SEP2024

 This Might Be the Weirdest Rock Ever Found on Mars

Perseverance rover spots unusual striped rock on Mars
by Athanasios Klidaras, NASA, PhysOrg, September 23, 2024

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Captures a Peculiar Rock
with a Striped Pattern, Jackson Chung, September 20, 2024

This Might Be the Weirdest Rock Ever Found on Mars
It's unlike anything ever seen on the Red Planet, but NASA hopes to
find more like it as the Perseverance rover continues its climb up
Jezero Crater. By Adam Kovac, September 24, 2024

Yours,

Paul H.

Monday 9 September 2024

"Suspicious" landform under investigation as possible impact crater

"Suspicious" landform under investigation as possible impact crater

  He saw a suspicious pit on Google Maps. Experts say it could be a crater from an ancient space rock 'Looking at the topography, it's very suggestive of impact,' says French scientist. ...
Rachel Watts, CBC News, Sep 05, 2024

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-meteorite-impact-crater-1.7313418

The Google Earth coordinates are likely 51.236483° -64.696877°

Yours,

Paul H.

Wednesday 19 June 2024

NASA rover discovers mysterious Mars boulder unlike any others - Anorthosite? 19JUN2024

NASA rover discovers mysterious Mars boulder unlike any others - Anorthosite?

NASA rover discovers mysterious Mars boulder unlike any others
Elisha Sauers, Mashable, June 15, 2024
https://mashable.com/article/nasa-mars-rover-boulder-discovery


NASA’s Perseverance Fords an Ancient River to Reach Science Target
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, June 13, 2024
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-fords-an-ancient-river-to-reach-science-target

Yours,

Paul H.

A Giant Interstellar Cloud May Have Caused Quaternary Ice Age 19JUN2024

A Giant Interstellar Cloud May Have Caused Quaternary Ice Age

A Giant Interstellar Cloud May Have Once
Enveloped Earth, Potentially Causing Ice Ages.
Astronomers suggest this cold, dense cloud
compressed our sun’s protective field between
two and three million years ago, leaving the
Earth exposed to cosmic material
Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, June 14, 2024
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-giant-interstellar-cloud-may-have-once-enveloped-earth-potentially-causing-ice-ages-180984529/


The Solar System May Have Passed through
Dense Interstellar Cloud 2 Million Years Ago,
Altering Earth’s Climate, Boston University, June 14, 2024
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/the-solar-system-may-have-passed-through-interstellar-clouds/


The open access paper is:

Opher, M., Loeb, A. and Peek, J.E.G., 2024.
A possible direct exposure of the Earth to the
cold dense interstellar medium 2–3 Myr ago.
Nature Astronomy, pp.1-8.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02279-8

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02279-8


Yours,

Paul H.

Monday 17 June 2024

Suzdalevo Lake (Central Siberia, Russia)—A Tunguska Event-Related Impact Crater? 17JUN2024

Suzdalevo Lake (Central Siberia, Russia)—A Tunguska Event-Related Impact Crater?

Another proposed impact crater has bit the dust.

Kavková, R., Vondrák, D., Chattová, B., Svecova, E., Takac, M., Golias,
V., Štorc, R., Stanghellini, C. and Kletetschka, G., 2022. Suzdalevo Lake
(Central Siberia, Russia)—A Tunguska Event-Related Impact Crater?
Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, no. 777631.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.777631/full

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360188901_Suzdalevo_Lake_Central_Siberia_Russia-A_Tunguska_Event-Related_Impact_Crater?

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Vondrak

Yours,

Paul H.

Sunday 16 June 2024

Cubic zirconia found in impact glass from West Clearwater Lake impact structure, Quebec, Canada 16JUN2024

Cubic zirconia found in impact glass from West Clearwater Lake impact structure, Quebec, Canada

Quebec lake meteorite impact yields rare rocks and evidence of extreme heat
by Jeff Renaud, University of Western Ontario, June 6, 2024
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-quebec-lake-meteorite-impact-yields.html#google_vignette

The open access paper is:

Chinchalkar, N.S., Osinski, G.R., Erickson, T.M. and Cayron, C., 2024.
Zircon microstructures record high temperature and pressure conditions
during impact melt evolution at the West Clearwater Lake impact
structure, Canada. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 636, no.118714.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X2400147X

Yours,

Paul H.

Sunday 2 June 2024

Customs and Border Protection Crackdowns on some De Minimis Shipments into the US 02JUN2024

Customs and Border Protection Crackdowns on some De Minimis Shipments into the US

Currently, US Customs and Border Protection is cracking
down on de minimis Shipments from China into the US.
It is now currently limited to air shipments from China.
However, this crackdown could extend eventually to other
countries and ultimately to some degree to marine shipments.
  Because de minimis shipping consists of any goods that
is less than 800 dollars, this crackdown, might eventually
greatly delay the shipping of any package of goods and
lengthen the time it would to ship anything into the
United States. Also, any package of de minimis goods
shipped into the United States will be more closely scrutinized
by the CPB in terms of whether it is properly declared in
description and price by the sender.

  Although it is nothing to worry about now, the situation
could change in the future.


Below are some new articles-

Customs Brokers under scrutiny as US CPB confirms
ecommerce crackdown, the Lodestar
https://theloadstar.com/customs-brokers-under-scrutiny-as-us-cbp-confirms-ecommerce-crackdown/


"Entry Type 86 allows the import of goods into the
US without the payment of duties and taxes, if the
value of the shipment is less than $800, the de minimis
threshold."

Customs brokers caught up in US crackdown on
Chinese ecommerce traffic. the Lodestar
https://theloadstar.com/customs-brokers-caught-up-in-us-crackdown-on-chinese-ecommerce-traffic/


Customs and Border Protection Crackdowns on ECommerce De
minimis Shipments from China to the US

What is Going on With Shipping?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muTPGkhZAXk

Yours,

Paul H.

Thursday 18 April 2024

‘Space junk’ crashes into Florida home from International Space Station, NASA says 18APR2024

‘Space junk’ crashes into Florida home from International Space Station, NASA says

‘Space junk’ crashes into Florida home from International Space Station, NASA says
ALcom, Apr. 16, 2024
https://www.al.com/news/2024/04/space-junk-crashes-into-florida-home-from-international-space-station-nasa-says.html

Object that slammed into Florida home was indeed space junk from ISS, NASA confirms
By Mike Wall, SpaceCom, , Apr. 15, 2024
https://www.space.com/object-crash-florida-home-iss-space-junk-nasa-confirms

Kessler Syndrome and the space debris problem
By Mike< SpaceCom, July 14, 2022
https://www.space.com/kessler-syndrome-space-debris

This feared space-junk cascade called Kessler Syndrome may have already begun.

Yours,

Paul H.

Thursday 14 March 2024

Claims of Extrasolar Spherules from Pacific Ocean Site CNEOS 2014-01-08 Disputed 14MAR2024

Claims of Extrasolar Spherules from Pacific Ocean Site CNEOS 2014-01-08 Disputed

Recently, a preprint has been posted to the arXiv site that disputes proposal that Be,La,U-rich spherules recovered form
Pacific Ocean Site CNEOS 2014-01-0 are from an extrasolar origin. Instead, they argued to be microtektites of terrestrial lateritic sandstone.

The preprint is:

Desch, S., 2024. Be, La, U-rich spherules as microtektites of terrestrial laterites: What goes up must come down. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.05161.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.05161

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2403/2403.05161.pdf


The proposed extrasolar spherules are discussed in:

Loeb, A., Adamson, T., Bergstrom, S., Cloete, R., Cohen, S., Conrad, K., Domine, L., Fu, H., Hoskinson, C., Hyung, E., Jacobsen, S., Kelly, M., Kohn, J., Lard, E., Lam, S., Laukien, F., Lem, J., McCallum, R., Millsap, R., Parendo, C., Petaev, M., Peddeti, C., Pugh, K., Samuha, S., Sasselov, D., Schlereth, M., Siler, J.J., Siraj, A., Smith, P.M., Tagle, R., Taylor, J., Weed, R., Wright, A., and Wynn, J. 2023.,

Discovery of Spherules of likely extrasolar composition in the Pacific Ocean site of the CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1) bolide. 
Loeb, A., Adamson, T., Bergstrom, S., Cloete, R., Cohen, S., Conrad, K., Domine, L., Fu, H., Hoskinson, C., Hyung, E., Jacobsen, S., Kelly, M., Kohn, J., Lard, E., Laukien, F., Lem, J., McCallum, R., Millsap, R., Parendo, C., Petaev, M., Peddeti, C., Pugh, K., Samuha, S., Sasselov, D., Schlereth, M., Siler, J.J., Siraj, A., Smith, P.M., Tagle, R., Taylor, J., Weed, R., Wright, A., and Wynn, J. 2024. 
Recovery and classification of spherules from the Pacific Ocean site of the CNEOS 2014 January 8 (IM1) bolide.
Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society 8: 39.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad2370/meta


Related paper, reprint and press release:
Desch, S., and Jackson, A., 2023. Critique of arXiv submission 2308.15623, "Discovery of Spherules of Likely Extrasolar Composition in the Pacific Ocean Site of the CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1) Bolide", by A. Loeb et al arXiv:2311.07699
https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.07699

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.07699.pdf


'Alien' spherules dredged from the Pacific are probably just industrial pollution, new studies suggest. LiveScience, Nov. 16, 2023
https://www.livescience.com/space/extraterrestrial-life/alien-spherules-dredged-from-the-pacific-are-probably-just-industrial-pollution-new-studies-suggest


Gallardo, P.A., 2023. Anthropogenic Coal Ash as a Contaminant in a Micro-meteoritic Underwater Search. 
Research Notes of the AAS, 7(10), p.220.
http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2024/32/PhC_vol_32_Lomas.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Saturday 9 March 2024

Interstellar Meteorite was Just a Truck 09MAR2024

Interstellar Meteorite was Just a Truck

Interstellar Signal Linked to Aliens was Actually Just a Truck
  The findings from a Johns Hopkins University-led team raise doubts that materials pulled last year from the ocean are alien
materials from a 2014 meteor fireball John Hopkins University, HUB, March 7, 2024
https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/03/07/alien-meteor-truck/


Seismic Rumble From an 'Alien Technology' Meteor Was Actually a Passing Truck, Scientists Say The rumblings of
\the motor vehicle apparently resembled that of a fireball passing through Earth’s atmosphere.
By Isaac Schultz, Gizmodo, March 8, 2024
https://gizmodo.com/rumble-alien-technology-meteor-actually-truck-2014-1851319770

Yours,

Paul H.

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Physicists suggest a possible way to confirm or deny the existence of the Chinguetti meteorite ...

Physicists suggest a possible way to confirm or deny the existence of the Chinguetti meteorite
by Bob Yirka , Phys.org
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-physicists-deny-chinguetti-meteorite.html


The paper is:

Warren, R., Warren, S. and Protopapa, E., 2024. 
New evidence on the lost giant Chinguetti meteorite. arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.14150.
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2402.14150
https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.14150


Yours,

Paul H.

Tuesday 27 February 2024

Strange Metal From Beyond Our World, Found in Ancient Treasure Stash, The Treasure of Villena, Iberia

Strange Metal From Beyond Our World, Found in Ancient Treasure Stash, The Treasure of Villena, Iberia
Michelle Starr, ScienceAlert, February 2024
https://www.sciencealert.com/strange-metal-from-beyond-our-world-found-in-ancient-treasure-stash


The paper is:

Rovira-Llorens, S., 2023 ¿Hierro meteorítico en el Tesoro de Villena?
(Meteoritic iron in the Villena Treasure?) Trabajos de Prehistoria 80 (2) julio-diciembre 2023, e19
https://tp.revistas.csic.es/index.php/tp/article/view/929/1110


Yours,

Paul H.

Sunday 11 February 2024

Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs below the K/Pg boundary, Las Encinas, Formation. Coahuila, Mexico

Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs below the K/Pg boundary, Las Encinas, Formation. Coahuila, Mexico



There is an interesting paper about the tracks of footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs found below the K/Pg boundary in the Las Encinas Formation, State of Coahuila, Mexico.
 Although it is in Spanish, a more or less usable translation can be obtained using document option of Google Translate at-
https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&op=docs

The open access paper is:
Serrano-Brañas, C., Espinosa-Chávez, B., Flores-Ventura, J., Barrera-Guevara, D., Torres-Rodríguez, E., Cadena-González, D., and Vega, F.J., 2024. Huellas de aves, pterosaurios, dinosaurios y el límite K/Pg en Coahuila, México (Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and the K/Pg limit in Coahuila, Mexico). Revista-Maya-Geociencias, Febrero 2024. pp. 96-105.
https://revistamaya.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Revista-Maya-Geociencias-Febrero-2024.pdf

https://revistamaya.com/?page_id=73


PDFs of more issues of Revista Maya Geociencia at
https://revistamaya.com/?page_id=73


A related paper is:
Serrano-Brañas, C.I., Espinosa-Chávez, B., Ventura, J.F., Barrera-Guevara, D., Torres-Rodríguez, E. and Vega, F.J., 2022. New insights on the avian trace fossil record from NE Mexico: evidences on the diversity of latest Maastrichtian web-footed bird tracks. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 113, p.103686.

Yours,
Paul H.

Wednesday 7 February 2024

Strange yellow glass found in Libyan desert may have formed from lost meteor impact

LIBYAN DESERT GLASS- Strange yellow glass found in Libyan desert may have formed from lost meteor impact

Libyan desert yellow glass: how we discovered the origin of these rare and mysterious shards, Elizaveta Kovaleva Lecturer,
University of the Western Cape The Conversation, November 20, 2023
https://theconversation.com/libyan-deserts-yellow-glass-how-we-discovered-the-origin-of-these-rare-and-mysterious-shards-217565

Strange yellow glass found in Libyan desert may have formed from lost meteor impact By Elizaveta Kovaleva
Live Science, December 03, 2023
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/strange-yellow-glass-found-in-libyan-desert-may-have-formed-from-lost-meteor-impact

The paper is:
Kovaleva, E., Helmy, H., Belkacim, S., Schreiber, A., Wilke, F.D. and Wirth, R., 2023. 
Libyan Desert Glass: New evidence for an extremely high-pressure-temperature impact event from nanostructural study. 

Thursday 4 January 2024

Holocene impact craters on Earth

Holocene impact craters on Earth

An interesting recently published open access summary of Holocene Impact Craters.

Losiak, A., 2023. Holocene impact craters on Earth. Miscellanea Geographica. Vol. 27 • No. 4
https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/mgrsd-2023-0016

https://sciendo.com/journal/MGRSD

Yours,

Paul H.