How Meteorites Hit The Earth's Atmosphere

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So many meteorites hit the Earth, but there aren’t very many craters to prove it. This is because, not only are most meteorites that reach Earth very small, but the Earth’s surface is always changing. Many meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere every day but most of them are only a few milligrams in size. Only the largest ones reach Earth’s surface as meteorites. “The average meteoroid enters the atmosphere at between 10 and 70 km/sec” (Meteors, Meteorites, and Impacts). The really big ones aren’t slowed very much, and these are the ones that make craters, but they are very rare. Very few of the meteorites that hit Earth are actually discovered and made known to scientists, as well as craters. Not very many impact craters are found on Earth partially because about 70% of the surface is water but also because of plate tectonics and continental drift. Plate tectonics and continental drift states that plates are gliding over the mantle and the Earth’s crust is being …show more content…

Meteorites, having a decent impact on this, have been separated into three categories; stony, stony iron, and iron. They have been split into these because of their composition and stony is the most commonly found on Earth. This suggests that other objects in the universe are made of some of the same material because meteorites are usually small pieces or leftovers of a larger object in the solar system. Planetary surfaces are the surfaces that show the impact cratering but less impact craters are found than the number of meteorites. The age and histories of different planetary surfaces can be determined by impact craters. “Scientists record the size and number of impact craters - and how eroded they are - to determine the ages and histories of different planetary surfaces” (Impact Cratering). Even though so many meteorites hit Earth, a lot of impact craters are difficult to recognize because Earth’s weathering and

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