Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1934-04-25

they left behind them have been obliterated by
wind and rain. 1t has been discovered very re-
Gently, however, that traces of these craters may
sometimes be seen when viewed from aloft In an
alrplane. Several groups of them have been
found In America during the past two years.
Where do meteorites come from? It is sup
posed that they are fragments of comets which
have been torn apart by the powerful gravita-
tion OF the sun and the larger planets of the
solar system. The Leonids are believed to be
fragments of Temples comet, which has disap-
peared like the meteor showers. Another comet.
known as Biela's, was actually seen to break up
and finally to vanish entirely but now we are
showered with an unusually large number of
meteors whenever 1t should be In the neighbor-
hood Of our earth, according to the computations
of astronomers.
How many meteorites have really hit the
earth7 Professor Nininger estimates that more
than $1,000 of them have fallen on every square
mile Of the earth's surface since the mammoth
roamed the steaming forests of prehistoric times.
That means that the very ground on which we
walk is made up largely Of the dust into which
they have fallen.
Confirmation of that belief is seen In the the
DRY advanced recently by Ralph w. Stone. as
sistant state g~eologist of Pennsylvania, that a
coating of meteorite dust 10 inches thick lies on
the surface Of the earth. This coating Is an
accumulation of 6O,000,00O years or more, he
says, and is constantly being increased, although
at such a slow rate that 1t is not noticeable.
Out Of 40 meteorite falls since meteorites be-
came known and accredited, 125 years ago, $780,
600 individual meteorites have been recovered,
or an average of 277 a fall. This figure supplies
one meteoric stone for each 400 square miles of
land surface of the globe In a century and a
quarter.
Most of the falls were observed In areas of
comparatively dense population and where sur
face conditions were favorable for observation
of the landing and for recovery.
IF we consider the 287 witnessed falls in Eu-
ropean countries, Russia, India, Japan and the
United States, amounting to 129,349 individual
meteorites or $50 stones q fall, in a combined
area of 7,250,0O0 square miles, we have one me-
teorite for every 55h miles, Mr.. Stone says.
During the 125 years only two falls from
which stones were recovered were observed In
the whole western third of the United States,
apparently due to spare population and the
nature of the terrain. Although practically all
observed falls from which stones are recovered
occurred In daytime, there Is no reason for as
Stunning that falls are not just as frequent at
night.
ION these assumptions, 1t is conservative to
estimate that In these twelve countries at least
ten times as many meteorites fell as were recov.
cred, or one to each five and a half square
miles,"
III the rate of fall of the last century has
been constant, according to the assistant state
g~eologist, each square mile Of surface has re-
ceived TIT meteoric units. In the 60,000,000 years
since the beginning Of tertiary times, on this
basis of computation, the earth received 81, 24O
meteorites a square mile.
1.-THE weight of the 129,349 stones recovered"
he continued, was 17,074 pounds. This Lis a very
themselves, but this figure gives about two
ounces a stone.
"This would mean a fve-ton-a-square-mile
average for the entire earth, in the last 125
years.
Should we continue the computation for long
er periods we get into ponderable figures. Then,
IL we figure not from the beginning Of the ter
tiary time but from early Paleozic time, oO0.-
100000 rather than 60,OO0,O00 years ago. we get a
weight of material which certainly would make
the earth wabble on its axis IL concentrated in
one spot on the surface"
Besides the meteorites which land, about a
million an hour daily are consumed In our at
mosphere before striking the earth, Mr.. Stone
estimates
Considering five pounds the average weight
of these, that would mean $4,000 tons of mete-
oric dust sitting down daily. Distributed over
the globe, however, the result would be a layer
one millimeter thick In 10000 years, or a blanket
10 feet deep In 6O,O00.000 years"
by Western Newspaper Union.