Astronomers of the University of Lund in Sweden reconstructed the history of the fall of meteorites to Earth in the last 500 years. According to the conclusions of scientists, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, major clashes in the belt of asteroids did not greatly affected the number of collisions with the planet, which refutes the generally accepted theory.
Researchers dissolved almost ten tons of sedimentary rocks from the bottom of the ancient seas in acid to highlight the chromium oxide grains contained in meteorites. In total, scientists analyzed almost 10 thousand different meteorites. They found that only one of the 70 largest collisions of asteroids (in the middle of the Ordovka about 460 million years ago), which occurred in the last 500 million years, led to an increase in the flow of meteorites falling on the ground.
It is known that several thousand meteorites fall on Earth every year, and scientists documented about 63 thousand cosmic stones. Meteorites occur from the belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, where the families of celestial bodies were formed as a result of large clasions. However, those that fell to the ground make up only a small region of orbital space in the belt.