Dear List,
To continue our musings on strewnfields, I'd like to first clarify Adam's post earlier when he identified strewnfields as the fall pattern of meteorites that break up prior to impact (Park Forest, etc.). This would be fine with me but it suggests we need new/different terminology to describe post impact distributions of impact created fragments (Canyon Diablo, etc.). Some would ask why and the reason is before us; it's hard to understand and study something without specific language.
To that end, I'm trying to resolve in my mind why the Portales Valley SF was essentially the reverse of the expected weight distribution. My instinct is to suggest that there was a moderate to strong tailwind in the upper atmosphere that pushed the lighter material "past" the heavier pieces so as to make it seem to have fallen in reverse pattern. Maybe Rob can help us there. I remember that the PF upper level winds were left to right and made the SFseem to elongate in a perpendicular fashion to the velocity vector.
Happy Holidays guys!
Mark Jackson
Chaosity Meteoritics
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