[meteorite-list] What Mars looks like under the impact dust

[Jason Utas]

Hola E.P., All,

> while in Tucson noticed its low density. I remember
> when Michael Casper let me handle one of the first new
> martian meteorites back in 1999, and my sudden
> understanding of exactly what 1/3 Earth's gravity
> really means.

Martian meteorites are as dense as earth rocks; the fact that Martian
gravity is 1/3 as strong as Earth's has only to do with Mars' smaller
radius.

They are simple basalts.  Although Martian rocks do tend to contain a
small amount of iron (enough to form a nice reddish rind on the vast
majority of Mars' surface over the past two billion years), they don't
contain as much iron as typical chondrites and thus feel lighter than
typical meteorites.

But keep in mind - if you pick up an earth basalt, they would be
approximately the same density.

Regards,
Jason


On Feb 11, 2008 10:18 AM, E.P. Grondine <epgrondine at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi Larry, Martin -
>
> Thanks for your responses, and thanks Martin for the
> link.
>
> I'm sure that anyone who had the privilege of handling
> Bruno Fectay's nice martian:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/arizonaviking2000/Tucsonshowandparty2008c081.jpg
>
> while in Tucson noticed its low density. I remember
> when Michael Casper let me handle one of the first new
> martian meteorites back in 1999, and my sudden
> understanding of exactly what 1/3 Earth's gravity
> really means.
>
> good hunting,
> E.P. Grondine
> Man and Impact in the Americas
>
>
>
>
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