Analytical study of spherules from the site of the Tungusk explosion
Abstract
A group of 80 magnetic spherules recovered in the vicinity of the site of the Tungusk explosion of June 1908 have been analyzed and compared with Fe-Ni spherules from the steady micrometeoroid flux. Most (90 percent) of the spherules cannot be identified with any known micrometeorite family, and their low average iridium content suggests a terrestrial origin. It is found that only three of the spherules (consisting of a single iron oxide phase) could have been produced by the event, and that the previous studies have overestimated the Tungusk iron debris.
- Publication:
-
Academie des Sciences Paris Comptes Rendus Serie Sciences Mathematiques
- Pub Date:
- May 1989
- Bibcode:
- 1989CRASM.308.1589J
- Keywords:
-
- Bolides;
- Meteoritic Composition;
- Spherules;
- Tungusk Meteorite;
- Iridium;
- Meteorite Craters;
- Micrometeoroids;
- X Ray Spectroscopy;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration