Paper: Gettysburg Times City: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Date: Saturday, April 29, 1995 Page: B5
Read All About It (column) by Susan R. Fineman
Meteorite from Mars
Test your reading comprehension by reading the story below and answering the questions that follow.
Massive explosion blew Martian rocks into space, researchers say
WASHINGTON (AP) - A massive explosion on Mars millions of years ago blasted rocks into orbit and some of that material landed on Earth, researchers say.
Kurt Marti, a planetary chemist at the University of California at San Diego, said that a 40-pound meteorite that landed in Africa 32 years ago has been identified as a bit of Mars.
The meteorite was observed, as it crashed to Earth in Nigeria in 1960 and was quickly recovered. It was named Zagami for the region where it hit.
A study of the chemistry of Zagami was published in the journal Science.
Marti, the study's lead author, said that gas trapped in bubbles within glass inside the meteorite has been chemically matched with the atmosphere composition found on Mars by the Viking spacecraft.
Marti said it's not known where Zagami originated on Mars, but he said there are lots of candidate sites.
"Mars is filled with craters created by collisions," he said. Astronomers are now searching Mars by telescope in find sites with minerals like those in the Zagami meteorite.
Marti said it is assumed that the explosion that ejected Zagami was caused by a large asteroid or comet slamming into Mars.
"It would require a very major collision," said Marti. "It is a very rare every."
Heat created by the collision melted rock that cooled quickly into glass, he said, and some of the Martian atmosphere was trapped and formed bubbles within the glass. IT is this gas that has been analyzed and compared with the chemistry found in the Martian atmosphere by the Viking landers in 1976.
Use the fact from the story to complete each of the following statements below:
1. An explosion on Mars, millions of years ago, caused:
a) rocks to be blasted into space
b) chemical changes on Earth.
c) many problems for scientists. 2. Rocks from Mars have:
a) damaged spacecraft.
b) landed on Earth
c) been founded by Kurt Marti. 3. Meteorites, or chunks of matter, from Mars have landed in:
a) Nigeria
b) Antarctica.
c) both a and b are correct. 4. The meteorite that landed in Africa:
a) weighed 32 pounds.
b) was named Zagami.
c) was not discovered for a long time. 5. According to the article, the name Zagami refers to:
a) an African author.
b) a scientific journal.
c) a place in Nigeria. 6. Scientists study the chemistry of meteorites to find out:
a) where other rocks have landed.
b) what other rocks are made of.
c) when the next planet explosion will occur in space.7. Kurt Marti, a planetary chemist, reported that the gas trapped inside Zagami:
a) is similar to Martian atmosphere.
b) can be seen with special glasses.
c) is impossible to study.
8. Marti believes the explosion took place on Mars:
a) after the Viking spacecraft landed.
b) when a comet or asteroid hit the planet.
c) about 33 years ago. 9. Glass formed inside the meteorite when:
a) the rock landed on Earth.
b) chemists heated the rock.
c) Martian rock melted and then cooled quickly. 10. The collision, or crash, that occurred on Mars:
a) takes place only once every 20 years.
b) is a very unusual event.
c) was caused by cosmic rays.----------------------------------------------------
Answer Key:
1) a 6) b 2) b 7) a 3) e 8) b 4) b 9) c 5) c 10) b
PART TWO
STUDENT STUMBLES UPON ROCK:
Some meteorites are tiny; others weigh as much as 60 tons. Pretend that you found a meteorite. Write a story about your discovery. Tell how, when and where you found the rock. Include a description, or picture, of your souvenir from space.
"Read All About It" is written by Susan Fineman, a reading specialist in the New Haven, Conn., school district. The column is sponsored by The Associated Press and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.
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Clear Skies, Mark Bostick Wichita, Kansas http://www.meteoritearticles.com http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com http://www.imca.cc
http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles
PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my website), is available upon e-mail request.
The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.
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