April 1, 2009
09.03.31 22.30
World largest Meteorite Discovered in Permafrost
Moscow, AP, Iswestija
Russian scientists holding a press conference in Vladivostok yesterday made public the discovery of the “largest meteorite ever found intact on earth”.
The meteoritic iron was uncovered during bauxite mining operations north of Vladivostok. Olga Tankova from the department of Mineralogy at the Vernadsky Institute in Moscow who is in charge of investigating the find told journalists: “The iron was found after excavating permafrost ground in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains 120 miles northeast Vladivostok for mining operations. When the machines worked at the ground a cliff collapsed and gave free a huge lump of iron. Because the famous meteorite fall of Sikhote-Alin had happened only 45 miles further north from the site in 1947 the head of operations of STREANAG mining assumed the iron could be of meteoritic origin. This was confirmed last week as a team of the Vernadsky Institute arrived. With approximate dimensions of 16 by 10 by 8 feet the meteorite is the largest cosmic body ever discovered on earth. Its weight is estimated to be more than 450 metric tons. “When the iron was first uncovered in the permafrost it had gun blue appearance, after several days it started to rust. We must now hurry to proceed with our investigation, before the meteorite starts to oxidize further. This is the discovery of a lifetime” said Tankova.
Ap/afp/Iswestija
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