Probable asteroidal origin of the Tunguska Cosmic Body

Farinella, P.; Foschini, L.; Froeschlé, Claude; Gonczi, R.; Jopek, T. J.; Longo, Giuseppe; Michel, Patrick

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20011054

Cited by 62 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The present results do not contradict this conclusion. At the same time, the results of recent theoretical calculations give evidence in favor of both the comet (Bronshten, 2000) and asteroid (Farinella et al, 2001) hypotheses. This distinction has lost its sharpness after the recent discovery of asteroids that behave like comets and comets that behave like asteroids and the double designation of some of these objects (Yeomans, 2000).…”

Section: Carbonmentioning

confidence: 94%

Isotopic–geochemical study of nitrogen and carbon in peat from the Tunguska Cosmic Body explosion site

Kolesnikov

Longo

Boettger

et al. 2003

Icarus

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Isotopic-geochemical investigations were carried out on peat samples from the 1908 Tunguska Cosmic Body (TCB) explosion area. We analyzed two peat columns from the Northern peat bog, sampled in 1998, and from the Raketka peat bog, sampled during the 1999 Italian expedition, both located near the epicenter of the TCB explosion area. At the depth of the "catastrophic" layer, formed in 1908, and deeper, one can observe shifts in the isotopic composition of nitrogen (up to ⌬ 15 N ϭ ϩ7.2‰) and carbon (up to ⌬ 13 C ϭ ϩ2‰) and also an increase in the nitrogen concentration compared to those in the normal, upper layers, unaffected by the Tunguska event. One possible explanation for these effects could be the presence of nitrogen and carbon from TCB material and from acid rains, following the TCB explosion, in the "catastrophic" and "precatastrophic" layers of peat. We found that the highest quantity of isotopically heavy nitrogen fell near the explosion epicenter and along the TCB trajectory. It is calculated that 200,000 tons of nitrogen fell over the area of devastated forest, i.e., only about 30% of the value calculated by Rasmussen et al. (1984). This discrepancy is probably caused by part of the nitrogen having dispersed in the Earth's atmosphere. The isotopic effects observed in the peat agree with the results of previous investigations (Kolesnikov et al., 1998a(Kolesnikov et al., , 1998bRasmussen et al., 1999) and also with the increased content of iridium and other platinoids found in the corresponding peat layers of other columns (Hou et al., 1998(Hou et al., , 2000. These data favor the hypothesis of a cosmochemical origin of the isotopic effects.

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Section: Carbonmentioning

confidence: 94%

Isotopic–geochemical study of nitrogen and carbon in peat from the Tunguska Cosmic Body explosion site

Kolesnikov

Longo

Boettger

et al. 2003

Icarus

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“…Due to the remote location of the impact site only two people and several reindeer herds were reported killed in this event. Evidence for the cosmic origin of the impactor is given by the extraterrestrial particles which had been found in the burned trees (Farinella et al 2001). …”

Section: Examples Of Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The asteroid and comet impact hazard: risk assessment and mitigation options

Gritzner

Dürfeld

Kasper

et al. 2006

Naturwissenschaften

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The impact of extraterrestrial matter onto Earth is a continuous process. On average, some 50,000 tons of dust are delivered to our planet every year. While objects smaller than about 30 m mainly disintegrate in the Earth's atmosphere, larger ones can penetrate through it and cause damage on the ground. When an object of hundreds of meters in diameter impacts an ocean, a tsunami is created that can devastate coastal cities. Further, if a km-sized object hit the Earth it would cause a global catastrophe due to the transport of enormous amounts of dust and vapour into the atmosphere resulting in a change in the Earth's climate. This article gives an overview of the near-Earth asteroid and comet (near-Earth object-NEO) impact hazard and the NEO search programmes which are gathering important data on these objects. It also points out options for impact hazard mitigation by using deflection systems. It further discusses the critical constraints for NEO deflection strategies and systems as well as mitigation and evacuation costs and benefits. Recommendations are given for future activities to solve the NEO impact hazard problem.

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“…Two additional and more complete analyses were independently performed by Ben-Menahem (1975) and Pasechnik (1976). They found practically the same value for the time the seismic and aerial waves started (see Table 18.1, updated from Farinella et al 2001). Pasechnik (1976) calculated that the time of the explosion in the atmosphere was 7-30 seconds earlier depending on the height and energy of the explosion; this interval was subsequently reduced to 2-20 seconds (Pasechnik 1986).…”

Section: Explosion Timementioning

confidence: 86%

“…This field research has been strengthened by theoretical studies and modeling. In a recent paper (Farinella et al 2001), a sample of possible TCB orbits has been constructed and a dynamic model was used to compute the most probable source of a TCB placed on each of these orbits. The results of calculations gave a greater probability for a TCB coming from an asteroidal source (83%), than from a cometary source (17%).…”

Section: Comet or Asteroid?mentioning

confidence: 99%