Walter wrote: > how large does an object have to be for it not to vaporize > completely upon plunging through Earth's atmosphere, i.e., > for there to be anything sizeable left to cause wide destruction > once it hits the ground (or water)?
Hello Again, According to G. Verschuur, the consequences may be something like: Very Large (>10 km) - Global - Mass extinctions Large (2-10 km) - Global - Some extinctions Medium (0.2-2 km) - Regional - Threat to civilisation Small (30-200 m) - Local - Severe Very Small (10-30 m) - Local - Minor If a really big one hit the Earth, as big as the the impactor that killed the dinosaurs (10-15 km), its destructive force and the conse- quences would be horrifying. It would hit us with the force of about 100 million megatons of TNT - this is more than 10,000 times the entire arsenal of nuclear weapons. If it plunged into an ocean, there would be tsunamis hundreds of feet high. House-sized chunks of rock would be tossed hundreds of miles and our atmosphere would be saturated with dust for years. Best regards, Bernd ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
