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> Hundreds of tons of rock like this from Mars land every year. 277 total Martian meteorites — with the largest weighing 14.5 kg — is not hundreds of tons year

> Hundreds of tons of rock like this from Mars land every year. 277 total Martian meteorites — with the largest weighing 14.5 kg — is not hundreds of tons yearly.

ceejayoz 2y ago
That's how many have been conclusively classified as Martian out of "the 72,000 meteorites [total] that have been classified". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite) That's obviously not the actual total that have ever made it here. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/facts/ https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/fac... > Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons (44,000 kilograms) of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day. That has been going on for billions of years. If the 277/72,000 proportion holds that's a lot of material.
- iamthirsty 2y ago
  While I recognize your logic, and even mostly agree, the point still stands that it cannot be conclusively and definitively said (as least as far as we've been alive/can tell) that hundreds of tons of Martian meteorites fall to Earth every year. Or even tons at all. Tons of meteorites in general, sure — but not from Mars.
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    It is likely given these numbers at least some tons of Martian rock land here annually, which makes the seeding of life concept feasible. I'm on board with "not hundreds of tons", but it's a lot closer estimate than 277 ever. (48.5 * 365) * (277 / 72,000) = 68 tons per year as an extremely speculative estimate here, ignoring entirely probable variances in what hits us (much of which is sand-grain sized) versus what we identify... and again, any estimate here we have to multiply by a few billion years.
- acchow 2y ago
  > Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons (44,000 kilograms) of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day. Most of it gets destroyed on entry, right? No organic matter surviving?
  - adastra22 2y ago
    No, most are smaller rocks and generally decelerate to terminal velocity in the upper atmosphere. It’s the big ones that have too much momentum and penetrate further at speed, causing them to go boom. The underlying reason is that momentum scales with volume but air resistance scales with surface area.

> Hundreds of tons of rock like this from Mars land every year. 277 total Martian meteorites — with the largest weighing 14.5 kg — is not hundreds of tons yearly.

ceejayoz 2y ago

That's how many have been conclusively classified as Martian out of "the 72,000 meteorites [total] that have been classified". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_meteorite) That's obviously not the actual total that have ever made it here. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/facts/ https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/fac... > Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons (44,000 kilograms) of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day. That has been going on for billions of years. If the 277/72,000 proportion holds that's a lot of material.

iamthirsty 2y ago
While I recognize your logic, and even mostly agree, the point still stands that it cannot be conclusively and definitively said (as least as far as we've been alive/can tell) that hundreds of tons of Martian meteorites fall to Earth every year. Or even tons at all. Tons of meteorites in general, sure — but not from Mars.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  It is likely given these numbers at least some tons of Martian rock land here annually, which makes the seeding of life concept feasible. I'm on board with "not hundreds of tons", but it's a lot closer estimate than 277 ever. (48.5 * 365) * (277 / 72,000) = 68 tons per year as an extremely speculative estimate here, ignoring entirely probable variances in what hits us (much of which is sand-grain sized) versus what we identify... and again, any estimate here we have to multiply by a few billion years.
acchow 2y ago
> Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons (44,000 kilograms) of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day. Most of it gets destroyed on entry, right? No organic matter surviving?
- adastra22 2y ago
  No, most are smaller rocks and generally decelerate to terminal velocity in the upper atmosphere. It’s the big ones that have too much momentum and penetrate further at speed, causing them to go boom. The underlying reason is that momentum scales with volume but air resistance scales with surface area.