Did meteorites preordain left-loving life?

Nature.com (blog), ‎Jan 19, 2011‎
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/01/did_meteorites_preordain_lifes.html

Wider range of asteroids could have made
life's ingredients, The Times, Jan 19, 2011‎
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/life-came-from-outer-space-says-nasa/story-e6frg6so-1225991941243

The paper is:

Glavin, D. P., M. P. Callahan, J. P. Dworkin, and
Jamie E. Elsila, 2010, The effects of parent 
body processes on amino acids in 
carbonaceous chondrites. Meteoritics & 
Planetary Science. vol. 45, no.12, pp. 1948–1972.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01132.x/abstract

Yours,

Paul H.

Book Review of "Incoming" (Book About Why We Should love Meteorites)

Incoming! Or, Why We Should Stop Worrying and 
Learn to Love the Meteorite by Ted Nield. A study 
of the science, history and cultural uses of meteorites 
impresses Tim Radford by Tad Radford, The Guardian
January 22, 2011, 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/22/incoming-worrying-meteorite-ted-nield

Meteorite strikes 'good for life on Earth' - Interview
with Dr. Ted Nield.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9360000/9360202.stm

Why we should stop worrying and learn to love 
the Meteorite!??
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=21394.0

Yours,

Paul H. 

China's first confirmed crater stirs debate (Xiuyan Impact Crater)

China's first confirmed crater stirs debate
by Zhou Jing, China.org.cn, January 20, 2011
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-01/20/content_21784587.htm

Some papers about this crater are:

Chen, M., 2008, Impact-derived features of the 
Xiuyan meteorite crater. Chinese Science Bulletin.
vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 392-395.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/9rh444147628h75w/

PDF file at 
http://www.scichina.com:8080/kxtbe/fileup/PDF/08ky0392.pdf
and http://www.scichina.com:8080/kxtbe/EN/abstract/abstract317414.shtml

Chen, M., W. Xiaoa and X. Xiea, 2010, Coesite 
and quartz characteristic of crystallization 
from shock-produced silica melt in the Xiuyan 
crater. Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
vol. 297, no. 1-2, pp. 306-314.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.06.032

Chen, M., W. Xiao, X. Xie, D. Tan and Y. Cao, 2010,
Xiuyan crater, China: Impact origin confirmed.
Chinese Science Bulletin. vol. 55, no. 17, pp. 1777-1781.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/e113713t58060086/

Yours,

Paul H.

Craterwrong Reported From Dubai

Did a meteorite crash near Festival City last night?
Huge craters in road from Al Badia to DFC stun motorists
by Joseph George, Emirates 24/7 January 20, 2011
http://www.emirates247.com/news/did-a-meteorite-crash-near-festival-city-last-night-2011-01-20-1.344718

http://cdn-wac.emirates247.com/polopoly_fs/1.344719.1295502351!/image/1955852316.jpg

Unfortunately, this is just an ordinary "sinkhole" created
by sediment being eroded out from beneath the asphalt
pavement by piping.

Best wishes,

Paul H.

People Searching For Meteorites in Ireland

Search on for 'huge' meteorite: The search is on for fragments
of a meteorite which blazed across Irish skies yesterday evening
RTE News, Ireland, January 19, 2011
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0119/meteorite.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Paleogene Dinosaurs ???

A new paper about the direct dating of dinosaur bones,
has been published online in advanced of its publication 
in “Geology.” It is:

Fassett, J. E., L. M. Heaman, and A. Simonetti, 2011, Direct 
U-Pb dating of Cretaceous and Paleocene dinosaur bones, 
San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Geology, first published 
on January 5, 2011,  doi:10.1130/G31466.1

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2011/01/05/G31466.1.abstract
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/current

Based on such dating, they argue that within the area of what
is now New Mexico, dinosaurs survived the K-P impact and
became extinct within the Paleogene.

Yours,

Paul Heinrich

New Paper About Kamil Crater, Egypt

A paper about the rayed Kamil Crater in Egypt has 
been published online in advanced of its publication 
in “Geology.” It is:

Folco, L., M. Di Martino, A. El Barkooky, M. D'Orazio, A. 
Lethy, S. Urbini, I. Nicolosi, M. Hafez, C. Cordier, M. van 
Ginneken, A. Zeoli, A. M. Radwan, S. El Khrepy, M. El 
Gabry, M. Gomaa, A. A. Barakat, R. Serra, and M. El 
Sharkawi, 2011, Kamil Crater (Egypt): Ground truth 
for small-scale meteorite impacts on Earth. Geology
published online January 5, 2011, doi: 10.1130/G31624.1

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2011/01/05/G31624.1.abstract
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent

The Kamil Crater provides a example of what a small,
45 meter in diameter, impact crater looks like before 
it is modified by erosion and information about the 
mechanics of meter-scale impacts. It also indicates
that iron meteorites with masses of tens of tons may 
be able to penetrate the atmosphere.

Yours,

Paul H.

Popular Article About Colônia Impact Crater, Brazil

Popular Article About Colônia Impact Crater, Brazil

Uma cratera de milhões de anos tornouse o lar de milhares
de famílias [A crater of millions of years became home to
thousands of families] by Marina Amaral, Brasil Atual SP,
December 29, 2010

Eram como peregrinos chegando à terra prometida, embora
sequer desconfiassem seguir o rastro de um cometa que por
ali passara há 10 milhões, talvez 30 milhões de anos
http://www.redebrasilatual.com.br/jornais/jba-sao-paulo/uma-cratera-de-milhoes-de-anos-tornou-se-o-lar-de-milhares-de-familias 

For a summary about this crater, go see “Brazilian Impact 
Craters: A Review” by R. Romano and A. P. Crosta at;
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2004/pdf/1546.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Impact Crater in New Mexico – Part 2 Lincoln County Revisited

In Impact Crater in New Mexico – Part 2 Lincoln County at
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2011-January/072230.html

Rob, about the features in 34° 0' 51.00" N 105° 8' 41.46" W
( 34.0142° N, 105.1448° W ) commented,

“Looking at these features in Google Earth, they appear 
to be capped limestone structures rather than depressions. 
Has anyone on the discussion list actually been there?”

I consulted the USGS topographic map and the 10-m DEM 
for the Cowboy Mesa SW 7.5 minute quadrangle. They
both show that these features are depressions and that 
they are certainly not limestone capped hills. Depending 
on how a person’s brain interprets the shadows, images 
on two-dimensional aerial photographs can appear to be 
either depressions or hills. Because of this quirk of how 
the brain works, it is useful to consult either topographic 
maps, digital elevations models (DEMs), or stereo pairs 
of aerial images when making interpretations.

Similar depressions can be seen elsewhere in the
regions in aerial photos and topographic maps. 
Similar depressions occur in Sections 29 and 28 of 
T. 4S., R. 17E. at 33.936° N, 105.179° W. This is 
about 9 km south-westsouth of Guenther’s depressions. 
Even more depressions can be seen about 32 km to 
the west – west-southwest in Sections 1, 2, 12, 20, 
21, 22, 33, 34, and others of T. 4S., R. 14E. Examples
of other similar depression can be found at 33.988° N,
105.435° W. and 33.946° N, 105.479 W. They all have 
the typical morphology of sinkholes. The typical
morphology of sinkholes as seen in topographic maps 
is discussed by Miller and Westerback (1989).

By the way the correct location for Guenther’s depressions 
is S1/2 of the SE1/4, of Section 27 and the N1/2 of the 
NE 1/4 of Section 34 of T. 3S., R. 17E. I mistakenly wrote 
“NE 1/2” instead of NE1/4”.

These posts are in reference to “Impact Crater in New Mexico” at 
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2011-January/072191.html

and “Impact Crater in New Mexico – Part 2 Lincoln County”
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2011-January/072228.html

Reference Cited,

Miller, V. C., and M. E. Westerback, 1989, Interpretation
of Topographic Maps. Merrill Publishing Company, 
Columbus, Ohio. 416 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0675209199
http://www.worldcat.org/title/interpretation-of-topographic-maps/oclc/19290228&referer=brief_results
Yours,

Paul H.

Impact Crater in New Mexico – Part 2 Lincoln County

Abe wrote in “Impact Crater in New Mexico” at
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2011-January/072191.html

 

 ;

“How about these 34° 0'51.00" N 105° 8'41.46" W? 
I notice a huge scatter of craters. Is much known 
about these or what they are? There are a lot of
these ancient scars for several miles around. If 
they aren't impact craters it would be interesting 
to know what they are.”

The features that are located at and near 34° 0'51.00" 
N 105° 8'41.46" W lie within the S1/2 of the SE1/4, of
Section 27 and the N1/2 of the NE 1/2 of Section 34 of 
T. 3S., R. 17E. within Lincoln County, New Mexico.
According to Scholle, P. A. (2003), this area is underlain 
by the San Andres Formation, which is described as 
“Limestone and dolomite with minor shale.”

Judging from what can be seen in the images, the 
depressions in this area are natural features. Their
morphology exhibits all the characteristics of typical 
sinkholes developed in the local limestone and 
dolomite bedrock. Unfortunately, I cannot at this
time find anything specific about the geology of 
this part of Lincoln County, New Mexico. 

If a person wants to look for features to investigate
as possible impact craters, they can check out the 
potential impact crater that Skotnicki (2009) 
reported finding within the Lincoln 7.5 quadrangle, 
Lincoln County, New Mexico.

References;

Scholle, P. A., 2003, Geologic Map of New Mexico.
scale 1:500,000, New Mexico Bureau of Geology 
and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico.

Skotnicki , S. J., 2009, Preliminary Geologic Map 
of the Lincoln Quadrangle, Lincoln County, New 
Mexico. scale: 1:24,000. Open-file Digital Geologic 
Map OF-GM 188. New Mexico Bureau of Geology 
and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico.
http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/ofgm/details.cfml?Volume=188

 

Map at http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/ofgm/downloads/188/Lincoln_v1p-00.pdf

 

Text at http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/maps/geologic/ofgm/downloads/188/Lincoln_Report.pdf

 

Yours,

Paul H.