two terrestrial catastrophes
Stato: Mali Anno: 1999 Notizie: In 1999 Mali issued a miniature sheet depicting two terrestrial catastrophes. The catastrophe is the giant impact at the end of the Cretaceous. Three dinosaurs -- Sauropelta, Segnosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex -- are caught up in this disaster. The second catastrophe is the great Plinian eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. which buried the Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Several people are shown trying to flee the eruption. At the bottom right appears the Eagle Station meteorite. Eagle Station was found in 1880 in Carroll County, Kentucky in the USA. Eagle Station is classified as a Pallasite. Pallasites are composed of olivine crystals set in a nickel-iron matrix. They probably formed in the boundary layer between the iron core and the stony mantle of an asteroid. Thin translucent slices of well-preserved Pallasites are very attractive and are used to create jewelry. |
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