Evidence of a meteorite has been discovered in Antarctica



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Magma particles, collected by scientists in eastern Antarctica, indicate the fall of a large meteor or asteroid in this region about 430 thousand years ago, and the journal Science Advance states that, according to scientists , this object did not leave a hole after it fell, because it turned into a stream of molten matter as it approached Earth, but its collision force was greater than the force of the Tunguska meteorite .

According to the “RT” website, a scientific team led by Dr Matthias Van Ginken of the College of Physical Sciences at the University of Kent in Britain, in the Sir Rondan mountain region, have discovered evidence of the fall. of a meteor or asteroid 430 thousand years ago, its dimensions are estimated at 100-150 m.

The science team collected spherical particles of 100 to 300 micrometers, which formed before the body fell to earth, as a result of its explosion near the Earth’s surface, and experts attribute these events to transitional type, which occupies an intermediary. position between explosions of extraterrestrial bodies in the atmosphere and Impact situations, as a result of which meteor craters form.

And the researchers used to identify and study 17 spherical particles found in the Sir Rondan mountain, using modern microscopy methods, and they found that the composition of these particles belongs to chondrites, with a high proportion of nickel in them, which confirms that they are from a non-terrestrial source, and that the unique isotopes of oxygen, It indicates that during its fall it interacted with the ice cap.

Using digital modeling, the researchers were able to prove that the size of the fallen object was larger than the size of the Tenguska meteorite that fell in 1908 and the Chelyabinsk meteorite that fell in 2013.

“Such events do not threaten human activity when they occur in Antarctica. But when they occur in densely populated areas, they can kill millions of lives and cause enormous damage over a large area,” said Dr Van Ginken.

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