How many meteorites hit the earth per day (on average)?
Hello, Mrs. Sneaky ~
Your question was fun to research, and the answer was really
astounding.
According to Our Dynamic Earth, (
http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/education/howitallstarted_science.asp ),
"The number of meteorites which survive the journey through the
atmosphere, land on the Earth and are large enough to be seen and
found is about 2 per day."
What I find more significant is that approximately "40,000 kg of
material falls daily on Earth, most of it in the form of
micrometeorites." That's a lot of cosmic dust added to our planet.
These figures are confirmed in information provided by the Louisiana
State University at Shreveport 's Shreveport/Bossier Astronomical
Society at:
( http://www.lsus.edu/nonprofit/sbas/meteors.htm ) ... that
micro-meteorites "... are falling continuously on us at an estimated
rate of 10,000 tons daily. This amounts to about 4 ozs. per square
mile per year."
These figures do not take into consideration the variables of Earth's
taveling through the cosmic debris of comet tails, etc., of course,
which would reasonably be expected to increase the daily number during
those periods.
Search terms: daily meteorite impact, meteorites compacting earth
Hope this helps answer your question,
Serenata
Walking/Running Puppy - Advise needed
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