Scientists at odds over meteor crater
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Disputes over identification of a meteor crater in Liaoning as being China's first have heated up after the local government announced a plan to build a geological park recently.
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Scientists at odds over meteor crater |
Some experts believed that massive economic interests are behind the claim.
The local government of Xiuyan Man Autonomous County in Anshan, Liaoning Province, where the meteor crater is located, told the Guangzhou Daily recently that they had already made a preliminary plan to develop Xiuyan as a geological park themed on the meteor crater.
After four years of research, a group led by Chen Ming, a researcher at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, identified the crater as being 150 meters deep, 1,800 meters in diameter, and located in Xiuyan Man Autonomous County.
The find was published in July in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, a leading international academic periodical. The article's publication signifies that international academics agree China's first ever meteor crater had been discovered after a search of 30 years, the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News reported.
Chen said a meteor crater is a precious natural relic and a unique landmark recognized worldwide.
"The discovery has more significance than just being China's first, since it provides significant material for research on the shaping of the earth and may help in probing the moon and outer space," he said.
However, questions have been raised over claims that the meteor crater is indeed China's first.
Ding Hongyi, head of the Jilin Meteor Museum, said recently that the meteor crater in Xiuyan could not be the first since others had been found in China, the Guangzhou Daily reported.
In 1976, a meteor shower in Jilin Province, which neighbors Liaoning, left nearly 138 meteor samples, including Jilin No.1, the largest meteor in the world. Over 5 million tourists visited the location over the last 30 years to see the meteor samples.
Sun Keqin, a geographical expert at the China University of Geosciences, told the Global Times that the meteor crater was verified through scientific measures that cannot be refuted.
"Everyone wants to lay claim to being the home of the first meteor crater. The local government has put a lot of emphasis on getting economic benefits by developing tourism through these meteor craters," Sun said.
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