Details Emerging On Tunguska Impact Crater

#space_on_irc.freenode.net (Dusty) writes "Lake Cheko in Siberia has been noted as the probable crater of the 1908 Siberian Tunguska event. This news was discussed here in December, but details on the crater were scant. Now a new paper written by Luca Gasperini, Enrico Bonatti, and Giuseppe Longo (the same team in Bologna, Italy that made news in December) has a horde of new details on the supposed crater. The team visited Lake Cheko complete with their own catamaran and completed ground-penetrating radar maps, side-scanning sonar images, aerial images, and some sample collection of Lake Cheko. Intriguingly, they also imaged an object under the sediment that may be a fragment of the impacting body. Their paper (PDF) includes a lot more details including images, side-scanning sonar image, a 3-D view of the lake, a morphobathymetric map. It's an interesting read, these dudes are good. They plan to return this summer and drill the core if weather permits, hopefully answering the question once and for all." The same team also has a more discursive article in the current Scientific American that includes some detail on the working conditions in the Siberian summer. Think: mosquitos.

Comments

Very interesting article

[Tisha_AH]

I have been following this team's progress with their investigation since it first came to light last year on the slash. They present a compelling case that there may be an impact body that created the lake.

I can't wait and see their results from core drilling the lake.

There have been several other impacts that were recorded by mankind (one in Estonia, recorded by Pliny the Younger).

The Tunguska event could be mis-interpreted as a nuclear strike if it were to happen today over a populated area. We need to increase our understanding of the frequency and effects of bolide impacts upon our planet.

Re:Very interesting article

[Jeff DeMaagd]

The Tunguska event could be mis-interpreted as a nuclear strike if it were to happen today over a populated area.

I thought nuclear strikes were highly radioactive. That and other clues would be easy to gather very quickly.

Re:Very interesting article

[Tisha_AH]

True, a nuclear weapon will leave radioactivity and this can be detected readily. Unfortunately we are still living in a world where submarines, bombers and missiles are pointed from country to country like loaded shotguns on a hair trigger.

My fear is that someone would mis-interpret an incoming meteor as a nuclear weapon and initiate a launch on their perceived threats.

If Moscow, Washington DC, Beijing or London were wiped out in a meteorite strike that was not detected before the destruction. Do you think that missile forces would not be put on high alert?

We are not that far away from the days of "Fail Safe".

We can check it for serial numbers :)

[NickFortune]

Seriously, the smart bet seems to be that event was caused by an asteroid strike. But until someone gathers some hard data, that's still only a hypothesis.

What self respecting scientist wouldn't go and examine the evidence? Because if it wasn't an asteroid strike...