Megacryometeor

Megacryometeor

A megacryometeor is a very large chunk of ice which, despite sharing many textural, hydro-chemical and isotopic features detected in large hailstones, is formed under unusual atmospheric conditions which clearly differ from those of the cumulonimbus cloud scenario (i.e. clear-sky conditions). They are sometimes called huge hailstones, but do not need to form in thunderstorms. Jesus Martinez-Frias, a planetary geologist at the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid, pioneered research into megacryometeors in January 2000 after ice chunks weighing up to 6.6 pounds (3.0 kg) rained on Spain out of cloudless skies for ten days.

Contents

Mass

More than 50 megacryometeors have been recorded since the year 2000. They vary in mass between 0.5 kilograms (1.1 lb) to several tens of kilograms. One in Brazil weighed in at more than 50 kilograms (110 lb).[1]

Formation

The process that creates megacryometeors is not fully understood, mainly in relation with the atmospheric dynamics necessary to produce them. They may have a similar mechanism of formation to that producing hailstones.[2] Scientific studies show that their composition matches normal tropospheric rainwater for the areas in which they fall. In addition, megacryometeors display textural variations of the ice and hydro-chemical and isotopic heterogeneity, which evidence a complex formation process in the atmosphere.[3][4][5] It is known that they do not come from airplane toilets because the large chunks of ice that occasionally do fall from airliners are distinctly blue due to the disinfectant used. However, others have speculated that these ice chunks must have fallen from aircraft fuselages[2] after plain water ice accumulating on those aircraft through normal atmospheric conditions has simply broken loose. However, similar events occurred prior to the invention of aircraft.[6][7] Studies indicate that fluctuations in tropopause, associated with hydration of the lower stratosphere and stratospheric cooling, can be related with their formation.[3] detailed micro-Raman spectroscopic study made it possible to place the formation of the megacryometeors within a particular range of temperatures (−10 to −20 °C).[8] They are sometimes confused with meteors because they can leave small impact craters.

References

  1. ^ Gelo caindo do céu assusta moradores (Portuguese).
  2. ^ a b The Peculiar Phenomenon of Megacryometeors by Alan Bellows.
  3. ^ a b Martinez-FrÍas, J.; Delgado, A.; MillÁn, M.; Reyes, E.; Rull, F.; Travis, D.; Garcia, R.; LÓpez-Vera, F. et al. (2005). "Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotopic Signatures of Large Atmospheric Ice Conglomerations". Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry 52 (2): 185. doi:10.1007/s10874-005-2007-7. 
  4. ^ Martinez-Frias, Jesus; Delgado Huertas, Antonio (2006). "Megacryometeors: Distribution on Earth and Current Research". AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 35 (6): 314. doi:10.1579/06-S-187.1. 
  5. ^ Orellana, Francisco Alamilla; Alegre, José Ma Ramiro; Cordero Pérez, José Carlos; Martín Redondo, Ma Paz; Delgado Huertas, Antonio; Fernández Sampedro, Ma Teresa; Menor-Salván, César; Ruiz-Bermejo, Marta et al. (2008). "Monitoring the fall of large atmospheric ice conglomerations: a multianalytical approach to the study of the Mejorada del Campo megacryometeor". Journal of Environmental Monitoring 10 (4): 570. doi:10.1039/b718785h. PMID 18385879. 
  6. ^ Tornadoes, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipitation, and Related Weather Phenomena, by William Corliss, 1983.
  7. ^ Riesgos Naturales, by Olcina Santos, J. and Ayala-Carcedo, J.
  8. ^ Rull, F.; Delgado, A.; Martinez-Frias, J. (2010). "Micro-Raman spectroscopic study of extremely large atmospheric ice conglomerations (megacryometeors)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 368 (1922): 3145. Bibcode 2010RSPTA.368.3145R. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0103. PMID 20529951. 

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