[meteorite-list] The Temperature/smell of meteorites: Reports from Chinese annals

[Robert A. Juhl]

Hello List,

I'm new on the Meteorite-List and saw the posts about the temperature of 
meteorites followed by posts about some meteorites with a sulfurous 
smell. Perhaps I can contribute to this discussion.

Sorry to be late, but to date I haven't been able to tweak my gmail to 
succeed in posting to the list. Finally, I came across a obscure mailer 
that seems to work. So with fingers crossed, here goes.

There are a number of reports of meteorites with smells of various kinds 
in ancient Chinese records. Following are a few reports dredged up from 
a quick trawl through China's standard list of official meteorite 
records. Before getting to the records, I want to point out that I know 
nothing about meteorites -- that's why I'm on the list -- to learn. But 
I do know something about ancient Chinese records.

My source for these reports is the standard, comprehensive list of 
Chinese meteor falls (pgs 63-104 of Zhongguo gudai tianxiang jilu zongji 
= Complete collection of records of celestial phenomena in ancient 
China, published in Nanjing in 1988 under the auspices of the Chinese 
Academy of Sciences). The book covers reports from ancient times to 
1910. In other words, they are reports of recognized meteorite falls. 
Translations are drafts.

A report dated 30 Mar 1189 says: "A meteorite fell in Baoying County in 
Chuzhou. It disintegrated into fires [perhaps with many sparks/fires on 
impact?] and had an extremely rancid odor."

A report dated 28 Jun 1499 says: There was a sound like thunder...to the 
N of Shuozhou city. A white vapor stretched across the sky. A fireball 
split apart, dropping a stone as big as a small cartwheel. It entered 
the ground more than seven feet deep, followed by gravel-like stones up 
to 20-30 li distant (10-15 kilometers). The stone was bluish-black, had 
an odor like sulfur, and its substance was hard and smooth. (From two 
local histories of Shanxi)

A report dated 16 Nov 1620 says: A thunderous sound and the earth shook. 
A black cloud surrounded a stone that fell at the mouth of a spring. The 
stone was colored like green mung beans and had a sulfurous odor. (From 
a local history of Hubei) A report about the same stone from a separate 
history says the stone smelled like "gunpowder."

A report dated 1622 says: A thunderous sound and a stone fell. Neither 
stone nor iron, its shape was wrinkled and it had a sulfurous odor. It 
weighed five yi (perhaps 100-200 ounces; this unit of weight is not 
well-defined). (From a local history of Hubei)

A report dated 31 July 1815 says: "Two streaks of white 'vapor' appeared 
between the fields, reaching into the sky. After a while, they dispersed 
and a meteor burst apart with a [loud] sound in the sky, which stopped 
after a short time. Meteorites then fell to earth, where they changed 
[meteorites were thought to consist of 'vapor' during flight, changing 
to iron, stone, or other materials after landing] into marble-sized 
pellets. Neither iron nor stone, they had a sulfurous smell."

A report dated 15 May 1832 says: "Three meteorites fell around 3 
pm....Before the meteorite had fallen, there was a sound like thunder 
and a shaking [of the earth]. When the people looked up, they saw things 
colored deep black descending from the sky. They were as big as a hu 
measures. Whirling around, they entered the fields. The people quickly 
dug for them. After digging about 2.5 ft deep, they retrieved a stone 
colored like a sheep's liver and covered all over with protrusions. It 
weighed several jin (probably more than a kilogram) and smelled rancid."

A report dated 4 May-2 Jun 1856 says: "...there was a sound like thunder 
from the sky and something as big as a cartwheel descended, colored like 
the yellow of a hen's egg. It smelled so rancid that people couldn't 
approach it."

There are many more, but you get the idea. There are also some 
interesting clusters. For example, there is a cluster of four meteorites 
that smelled like sulfur in the 1717-1725 timeframe.

There are also reports of warm/hot/frosty meteorites in Chinese sources. 
Here are a few excerpts.

Date: 1720.1.10. After twilight a sound like a cannonade came from the 
east and then from the south. Flashing and flickering, an object fell 
from the sky. It was as big as a goose egg, metallic, very hot, and had 
a sulfurous odor. (From a local history of Jianxi province)

1754.3.29. there was a thunderous sound and minor [earth]shock. People 
in the countryside saw smoke twisting down to earth and then rising up. 
They dug out a stone that was very hot and reported it to the local 
officials, whereupon the stone was kept in the local government 
storehouse. (From a local history of Henan province)

1838.1.31. Between 7-9am, there was a sound like thunder from the NE 
corner of the sky. It was heard over an area of 200-300 li (roughly 
100-150 kilometers). Large and small reddish objects fell from the sky 
in Jianzhou, Wulian, and other places. They entered the ground more than 
a foot deep. Immediately dug up, they resembled [burning] charcoal 
briquets and were still hot. (From a local history of Sichuan province)

1861.9.4. Three stones fell in a courtyard, penetrating the ground more 
than a foot deep. When dug up, they were still hot enough to burn hands. 
(From a local history in Hubei province and the draft history of the 
Qing dynasty)

1880, summer. Two stones fell in a [paddy] dike…with a thunderous sound 
and wind. Falling right into a paddy field, with water spurting like 
iron being tempered, they formed a small pond. One farmer got one; at 
first it was hot and soft, but after a short time it became freezing 
cold and hard…. (From a local history of Guangzhou province)

Hope the above is interesting to you and perhaps useful.

Regards

Robert A. Juhl, Tokyo (AD552 at mac.com)