Location
Cocoa Beach, FL
Start Date
7-3-1966 8:00 AM
Description
particles in the asteroidal belt, coupled with the fact that there is a high mass cut-off for chondrites at about 1000 kg, is sufficient to explain the absence of chondrites with radiation ages greater than 55 x 10^ years. Then if one postulates continuous creation of meteorites by asteroidal collisions, the effect of space erosion is to shift the measured ages toward lower values and to destroy a certain portion of meteorites as a function of their time in space. The total effect, as estimated with several simple but plausible erosion rates, is to duplicate quite nicely the observed shape of the radiation age spectrum. Thus space erosion is not the sole factor in determining the radiation age of a chondrite, but is a factor which grows in importance as the age increases, becoming the sole factor at 55 x 10 years. The model is in agreement with the postulate of a distinct bronzite producing collision 4 million years ago, whose effect is observed on top of the background of continuous collision* It is therefore suggested that both stone and iron meteorites are created by collisional processes in the asteroidal belt.
The Origin of Meteorites: Space Erosion and Cosmic Radiation Ages
Cocoa Beach, FL
particles in the asteroidal belt, coupled with the fact that there is a high mass cut-off for chondrites at about 1000 kg, is sufficient to explain the absence of chondrites with radiation ages greater than 55 x 10^ years. Then if one postulates continuous creation of meteorites by asteroidal collisions, the effect of space erosion is to shift the measured ages toward lower values and to destroy a certain portion of meteorites as a function of their time in space. The total effect, as estimated with several simple but plausible erosion rates, is to duplicate quite nicely the observed shape of the radiation age spectrum. Thus space erosion is not the sole factor in determining the radiation age of a chondrite, but is a factor which grows in importance as the age increases, becoming the sole factor at 55 x 10 years. The model is in agreement with the postulate of a distinct bronzite producing collision 4 million years ago, whose effect is observed on top of the background of continuous collision* It is therefore suggested that both stone and iron meteorites are created by collisional processes in the asteroidal belt.
