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Science 30 March 1984:
Vol. 223. no. 4643, pp. 1405 - 1407
DOI: 10.1126/science.223.4643.1405
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Articles

The Frequency of Meteorite Falls on the Earth

IAN HALLIDAY 1, ALAN T. BLACKWELL 1, and ARTHUR A. GRIFFIN 1

1 Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6

Photographic observations from a network of 60 cameras in western Canada are used to derive the influx rate of meteorites on the earth's surface, the first time instrumental data have been used for this purpose. Forty-three observed events are believed to have dropped between 0.1 and 12 kilograms of meteorites each. The flux values are corrected for a minor latitude effect and agree with earlier estimates near 10 kilograms but vary more slowly with mass. Eight events per year drop at least 1 kilogram of meteorites in an area of 106 square kilometers.

Submitted on September 26, 1983
Accepted on February 8, 1984

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)