76th Annual Meeting (2013) 5039.pdf The Chelyabinsk hits an anomalous zone in the Urals; Kochemasov G. G.; IGEM of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 35 Staromonetny, 119017 Moscow, [email protected]

The Chelybinsk meteorite hit at a special zone of the Middle Urals (approximately between 55 and 62 degrees of the North latitude) known as anomalous because there electrophonic bolides are often observed. It is geologically marked by an intersection under a sharp angle of two Pz fold systems: Uralian meridional and the Timan fold belt of the NW strike. This intersection comprises an unusual bending and widening of the Urals with the Ekatherinburg city roughly in the center of this formation and the Chelyabinsk region in the south. Very famous Dyatlov pass with mysterious death of 9 students in 1959 occurs at the north of the intersection. This intersection is also known by small placer deposits of unusual Uralian diamonds though the Urals does not belong to the Archean cratons. The long Ural Mountains are a tectonic boundary between the somewhat risen East-European platform and the relatively fallen West-Siberian young platform. The Chelyabinsk bolide as well as the Kunashak meteorite in 1949 hit ground in this tectonically peculiar place in the Ural Mountains. The main explosion was followed by a series of weaker bangs. The distribution of electrophonic bolides over the former USSR was studied in [1, 2]. The total of 343 observations are distributed at relevant districts; accompanied were found only in 23-24 cases. Two areas are obviously anomalous. These of the Urals and the Eurasia-Asia contact of the uplifted Asia and subsided Eurasia (Novosibirsk – Yenisei R. – Tunguska R. region). A location of the anomalous region in the long Uralian belt is determined by its intersection with the Timan fold belt. The catastrophic Dyatlov pass where nine people mysteriously died at once occurs there. Mancy aborigines know this place as deadly where killing white shining spheres appear. Moreover, this belt intersection is well known among hunters for UFO as the “Permian triangle”. They meet there to observe unusual atmospheric shining, light balls and other anomalous phenomena. In conclusion, these two tectonically distinctive regions are famous by anomalously often appearance of bolides part of which is accompanied by meteorite falls. Out of 343 observations less than 10 % were accompanied by meteorites. Unclear remains a strange attraction of bolides by very pronounced tectonic features. This strange attraction of randomly falling stones requires an explanation. References: [1] Bronshten V.A., Grebennikov V.S., Rabunsky D.D. Catalogue of electrophonic bolides // Actual issues of in Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1988, 158-204 (In Russian). [2] Kochemasov G.G. Next bang in atmosphere over the Siberian taiga // “Planet Earth” system.-Moscow: LENAND, 2011.-514 pp (p. 155-156) (In Russian).