AUSTRALIAN CRATERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21716, 3 February 1934, Page 7 (Supplement)

AUSTRALIAN CRATERS

SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION Sir Douglas Mawson proposes, as soon as it is practicable, to take a scientific exploration party to what are known geologically as the Henbury meteorite craters of Central Australia, to the south of the Macdonnell ranges. Sir Edgeworth David, Emeritus Professor of Geology at the University of Sydney, in recently announcing the proposed exploration, said that last year, on the representations of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Advancement of Science, the Federal Government renewed the reserve which it had proclaimed in respect to the area of the 12 nickel-iron Henbury meteorite craters of Central Australia. The largest of these massive and exceedingly rare meteorite craters is 200 yds. in diameter and is more than 50ft. deep. " The speed and the force of the great nickel-iron celestial projectile when it struck the earth's surface at this spot," said Sir Edgeworth David, " was so terrific that the rock where it struck, being exceedingly hard and infusible, and a greatly-hardened sandstone, or quartzite, was actually fused to a kind of natural slag all round the edges of the crater through the heat generated by the force of the impact. " Sif Douglas Mawson, in taking a party to explore the craters scientifically, proposes, in the first place, to determine by an accurate magnetic survey in the neighbourhood of the largest crater the depth at which the nickel-iron meteorite that produced it is now lying. Fragments of this meteorite are now being investigated by Professor Paneth, of Konigsberg, with a view to determining the absolute time at which the meteorite consolidated. This, of course, hag nothing to do with the date of the fall of the meteorite, which, geologically speaking, is obviously recent, for, while there are large trees growing in the crater, there has not been time since the fall of the meteorite for the natural drainage of the country to fill up the crater, although it has, to some extent, obviously been silted up. " It has been possible to show that some meteorites must have consolidated nearly 3,000,000,000 years ago, by applying radio-active methods in this type of investigation, particularly estimating the volume of helium gas (inclosed in the meteorite in relation to minute quantities of uranium minerals also present. So far the oldest rocks of the earth, tested by similar radio-active methods, have proved to be of the order of about 1,600,000,000 years ago. "It is tentatively suggested that these oldest meteorites may be survivals of the original meteorite swarms out of which the earth was formed, giving an age to the earth of approximately 3,000,000,000 years." SOURCES OP ENERGY That ample energy for the future use of man is contained in the sunshine, wind, tides and ocean heat was the recent assurance of Dr. Arthur B. Lamb, of Harvard University. Each year the world uses 17,800,000,000,000 kilogram-calories, or as much energy as might be derived from 2,700,000,000 tons of coal. If natural resources were cut off, it would take the labour of 11,000,000,000 men to furnish the same energy. However, only 17 per cent, of the energy used each year is actual human energy. Coal furnishes 50 per cent, with the remainder coming from oil, wood, gas and the labour of domestic animals. Should all natural resources be removed or exhausted, there are. other sources of energy available. The annual solar energy to the earth totals almost 42 times the energy of all the world's reserves in the form of coal, oil and gas. PORTABLE FIRE PUMP Forest rangers in several American States and in some national forests are equipped with a portable fire pump and water tank, worn on the back. The pump has a capacity of seven gallons of water, and is hand-operated. An adjustable nozzle permits the operator to fight fire with a 50 or 60ft. stream, or a long, coarse spray. When the tank is empty it is refilled by a line of water carriers.