Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Every observed/recorded meteorite fall on Earth since 2300 BC

Huge, interactive map version: http://osm2.cartodb.com/tables/2320/public#/map

Low-res, static image:

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BTW: The site overplays the data. It's NOT "Every meteorite fall on Earth since 2300 BC." It's only those that have been observed, recorded, or recovered.

Places with large populations and long formal histories are thus over-represented; places with light populations an/or poor record-keepig are not. The American Midwest (with intensive farming) turns up many buried meteorites; places like the Amazon Jungle do not. Deserts make rocks easy to find. Oceans do not. And so on.

It's also just a few thousand years; an eyeblink of geologic time.

So take the data with a grain of salt. It's interesting, but if we really had a complete record, the whole planet would be the deep red of multiple strikes. Every place got hit. Every place will get hit again.

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