GREAT SIBERIAN METEORITE

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1928, Page 9

GREAT SIBERIAN METEORITE

DESCRIPTIONS BY EYE-WITNESSES METEORITE AT KANTH, INDIA. (Rev. 15. Dudley, in the Lyttelton Times.) Tn a previous article attention was drawn to the ancient meteor-crater at Arizona, and the boring operations being carried on with a view to the discovery of v tiie celestial bolt that caused it. In order to complete the subject, It is necessary to give some account of the greatest modern example of the kind, the one made by the great Siberian meteorite, and to what is being done for a similar purpose at the spot where it struck and wounded the earth. A recent issue of the Scientific American devotes considerable space to the subject, including valuable information in respect to another crater of smaller dimensions in the island of Oesel, Esthonia. Concerning the phenomenon at Oesel, there is some little doubt on the question. That is to say, it is not certain that the remarkable depression suspected to have been formed by the fall of an exceptionally large meteorite at a remote date in the past meteorite at a remote date in the past, was thus made. This crater-like hollow is at present the subject of careful attention on the part of scientists connected with the Dorpat University. The diameter of the cup, which is roughly circular in shape, is about 300 feet, and it is surrounded by a rim or wall 20 feet in height. In endeavouring to solve the mystery of its origin there is to be considered the possibility of its being due to sinking, but none whatever, according to experts, to volcanic action. This theory has m its favour the fact that beneath the successive layers of black earth, clay and sand, which lie under the spot, there is to be found dolomite, a rock which is soluable in ground water. This might under given conditions cause sinking on the part of whatever might lie above it. Thus the sink-hole theory, as it is called, has had to be thought of seriously- Against this, however, is the fact that the depression is enclosed within the high wall already referred to. The rocks forming the wall, too, are so uptilted as strongly to suggest meteoric origin. The depth of the crater is at least from forty to fifty feet. Around the depression, within a radius of half a mile, are numerous other smaller craters, varying in diameter from a hundred down to 15 feet, as if, accompanying or following the main meteoric stone, there might have been a number of smaller stones, as is not uncommonly the case in meteoric falls. REPORTS OF EXPEDITIONS. With regard to the other crater, there can be no doubt whatsoever. Authentic reports have been supplied of the work of expeditionary parties that have been sent out by the Academy of Sciences in Russia, whose official statement has quite recently been published. The leader of the expedition explains that the reason why information concerning the matter has been slow in getting abroad was largely the difficulty of communication with Russia, and the fact that all correspondence with that country has of late been solely in the Russian language. The actual fall of the giant meteor took place on June 30, 1908, but owing 1> the generally disturbed state of the country for the past quarter of a cen* tury, few have heard of it, even though Profesor L. A. Kulik, representing the expedition, published a note on its findings as far back as 1921. A party sent out under the leadership of the Professor arrived in the district in March last year, their /base of operations being at Vanovara, situated some distance to the south-east of the district in which they were particularly interested. It appears that the area is exceptionally rough, being hilly, swampy and covered with tundra trees, and thus extremely hard to negotiate. The equipment of the party seems to have been inadequate. This, added to the almost impenetrable character of the district, caused delay in carrying o ut successful operations. The location of the spot itself (some 400 miles north of the Trans-Siberian railway), the sparcity of the population, and the great distance from any centre of population, have net helped the expedition. They succeeded, a few weeks ago, however, in reaching the actual place where the meteorite fell, and found it had produced results of a kind that can only be described as astonishing in the highest degree. As one result of the mighty impact, the trees for many miles around the central part of the affected area are stripped bare of branch and bark, and lie on the ground with their tops turned away from it, only a few remaining here and there, although the entire valley was formerly covered by woods. A few trees only are still living in the midst of the general desolation caused by the celestial firebrand. Everything has been scorched immediately around the centre of the spot, some traces of this being apparent as far as ten miles away. Surrounding the centre are innumerable craterlets or “shell-holes,” which vary in size from fifty down to a single yard in diameter. These all bear indications of meteoric origin, and suggest the same for the entire phenomenon. Had the scientists been sufficiently set up with the wherewithal for carrying out such a big undertaking they might have made some interesting discoveries, notwithstanding the tremendous quantities of water present everywhere, and other obstructions. ACCOUNT OF PEASANT RESIDENT. The following account of what happened is remarkable enough to quote at length. Professor Kulik satisfied himself as to its authenticity, and states that it was supplied by a peasant resident on the spot at the time: “During early morning I had been sitting on the porch with my face to the north, and at this moment in the north-west direction appeared a kind of fire which produced such a heat that I could not stand it. And this overheated miracle I guess had a size of at least a mile. But the fire did not last long. I had only time to lift up my eyes and it disappeared. Then it became dark, and then followed an explosion, which threw me down from the porch about six feet or more. But I heard a sound as if all houses would tremble and move away. Many windows were broken, a large strip of ground was torn away, and at the warehouse the iron bolt was broken.” Other testimony from first-hand information was to the effect that herdowners lost by the lire associated with the fall large numbers of cattle. Ir some instances not even the least traces of their carcases were found; store houses were ruined, everything being burned or melted save a few buck-

ets. The expeditionary party were forced to the conclusion that an event of the most extraordinary kind must have happened to cause the result apparent everywhere. The impact was evidently so tcrrifiic as to bury the mass or masses that struck the earth at this point to a very great depth, and it must have been a missive of enormous dimensions —the greatest thing of the kind in modern times. Meanwhile investigation is being continued and further reports are expected in the near future. The interesting cable (for it is bad enough to be interesting) to the effect that a large meteorite fell in the village of Kanth, India, resulting in the killing of two persons and injury to a third, invites comment, quite apart from the fact that it is regrettable that it was responsible for the loss of precious lives. The meteorite referred to, however, is not by any means the largest in modern times, though it may be spoken of as among the largest. The most massive meteorite of recent date is the one shipped from Greenland by Peary, the weight of which is 36} tons. This is. as a matter of fact, the largest such body anywhere on exhibition; for neither the Arizona meteorite nor the Siberian monster have yet been unearthed, as stated above, One feels rather suspicious of the report that the depth of the crater it formed is thirty feet. If correct, then it is quite unusual. Meteorites of such