[meteorite-list] "Boiling" (?) water in Carancas crater

[AL Mitterling]

Hi Piper,

I've been thinking about the "boiling water" and might have another 
explanation or two. First if this hit the ground faster than terminal 
velocity, I think that air could have been compressed under the specimen 
and is slowly bubbling out under as the water reacts to erode around the 
mass, releasing the trapped compressed air. Also if this is a fairly 
friable meteorite, it might be absorbing water and air is being 
displaced from the mass rising to the surface. I suppose that both could 
be true. Certainly a chemical reaction as you suggest is a good 
possibility. All my best!

--AL Mitterling

Piper R.W. Hollier wrote:

> Hello list,
>
> Thanks for the reactions both public and private to my posting to the 
> list about sulfur dioxide at Carancas. This thread has also given me a 
> new idea about the "boiling" water in the crater. Yes, it may have 
> been the obvious: ground water raised to the boiling point by impact 
> heat...
>
> BUT, if there was enough sulfur dioxide generated in the impact to 
> significantly acidify the water, what do you get when you put 
> pulverized cenozoic limestone in acidic water? Bubbling carbon 
> dioxide, maybe even lots and lots of it. One wonders: did anyone 
> actually verify somehow that the "boiling" water was hot to the touch? 
> Or might it have been only "bubbling" and not "boiling"?
>
> Sterling has added some valuable numeracy to the troilite/SO2 
> hypothesis by tracking down the dissociation temperature of troilite, 
> which is surprisingly low: 700 kelvins, or 427 C. That's not all that 
> hot, folks.
>
> Are there professional (geo)chemists out there who would care to 
> comment on the credibility of this explanation for what would 
> otherwise seem to be some rather odd phenomena?
>
> Piper