|
The Carancas impact event refers to the fall of the ''Carancas'' chondritic meteorite on September 15, 2007, near the village of Carancas in Peru, close to the Bolivian border and Lake Titicaca.〔Planetario Max Schreier ("Meteorito por el Desaguadreo" ), September 24, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕〔RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service, Budapest, Hungary, ("Cosmic Event - South-America" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕〔Teresa Cespedes, Reuters, ("Peruvians get sick from apparent meteorite crater" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕〔Ed Sutherland, All Headline News, ("Experts Confirm Peru Meteorite Site" ), September 20, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 The impact created a crater and scorched earth around its location.〔Rory Carroll, The Guardian UK, ("Peru meteorite crash 'causes mystery illness'" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 A local official, Marco Limache, said that “boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby”, as “fetid, noxious” gases spewed from the crater.〔MSNBC, ("Villagers fall ill after fireball hits Peru" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕〔BBC News, ("Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 Surface impact occurred above 3,800 m (12,467 ft). After the impact, villagers who had approached the impact site grew sick from a then-unexplained illness, with a wide array of symptoms.〔Lester Haines, The Register, ("Peruvian 'meteorite' strike provokes noxious gas attack" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕〔Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ("Locals fall sick after meteorite lands in Peru" ), September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕〔Living in Peru, LIP-ir, ("Doctors Aid in Rising Number of Illnesses after Meteorite Crash" ), September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 Two days later, Peruvian scientists confirmed that there had indeed been a meteorite strike, quieting widespread speculation that it may have been a geophysical rather than a celestial event. At that point, no further information on the cause of the mystery illness was known.〔Ed Sutherland.〕 The ground water in the local area is known to contain arsenic compounds, and the illness is now believed to have been caused by arsenic poisoning incurred when residents of the area inhaled the vapor of the boiling arsenic-contaminated water.〔José Orozco, National Geographic News, ("Meteor Crash in Peru Caused Mysterious Illness" ), September 21, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 ==The impact event== At 11:40:14 local time (16:40:14 GMT) on September 15, 2007, a chondritic meteorite crashed near the village of Carancas in the Puno Region, Peru, near the Bolivian border and Lake Titicaca (see map box on right).〔〔〔〔 The impact created a crater larger than deep, wide, with visibly scorched earth around the impact site.〔 A local official, Marco Limache, said that “boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby”, as “fetid, noxious” gases spewed from the crater.〔〔 The crater size was given as 13.80 by 13.30 meters (45.28 by 43.64 feet), with its greatest dimensions in an east-west direction. The fireball had been observed by the locals as strongly luminous with a smoky tail, and seen from just 1000 meters (3280.84 ft) above the ground. The object moved in a direction toward N030E. The small seismic shock of the impact shattered the windows of the local health center away. A smoke column was formed at the site that lasted several minutes, and gas was seen bubbling up in the water in the crater. One villager was as close as 100 m from the impact site. He fell from his bicycle but was not injured. A small building 120 m from the impact site did not suffer much either besides roof damage from flying debris.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Carancas impact crater )〕 Soon after the impact, over 600 villagers visited the site and some began to fall ill from unexplained causes, including symptoms of dermal injuries, nausea, headaches, diarrhea and vomiting.〔〔〔 On September 20, Peruvian scientists confirmed that there had been a meteorite strike, but no further information on the cause of the illnesses was known.〔Ed Sutherland.〕 Impact crater specialists have called the impact unusual, and have stated that the meteorite was at least in diameter before breaking up.〔Monty Hayes, Associated Press/Google, ("Meteorite Likely Caused Crater in Peru" ), September 20, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 The ground water in the area is known to contain arsenic compounds, and the illness was believed to have been caused by arsenic poisoning incurred when residents of the area inhaled the vapor of the boiling arsenic-contaminated water.〔 However, further investigations have led to the conclusion that the arsenic content in the groundwater did not differ from that of the local drinking supply, and that the illness reported was likely caused by the vaporization of troilite, a sulfur-bearing compound present within the meteorite in large amounts, which would have melted at relatively low temperatures and high pressures created by such an impact. According to cosmochemist Larry Grossman of the University of Chicago, the aerial lights and explosions reported were consistent with extraterrestrial material.〔Andrea Thompson, Space.com, ("Scientists Doubt Meteorite Sickened Peruvians " ), September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 The loud noise and explosive impact originally led Peruvians to think that the neighboring nation of Chile had launched an attack.〔Liubomir Fernandez and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, ("Meteorite causes a stir in Peru" ), September 21, 2007 ''(registration is required)''. Retrieved October 10, 2007.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2007 Carancas impact event」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|