A few points on the map.<br />You notice there are no deep ocean craters shown.<br />Also, there are deficits in mountainous regions.<br />This would be both affected by the rapid recycling and distortion in these regions, as well as huge difficulty in gathering data. <br />Mountains rise and twist and quake, mid-ocean ridges push the ocean surface until they subduct at the edges of continents. In the big picture, both of these processes are "rapid".<br />Notice the large concentration in Europe. <br />Much of the modern science of the last few hundred years started there. Before then, people did not even believe rocks could fall from the sky, since it was a big clear ball around us.<br />Modern science in North America is only two hunded years old or so, and the data from the original inhabitants is in a form hard for us to access.<br />See how many there are in Australia. These are mostly the efforts of Gene Shoemaker (as are all the craters on the moon, since before him, no one thought they were impact craters.)<br />So as stated, these are known craters. <br />The only logical position is that the distribution of impacts across the earth is an even layering. <br /><br />Since the cratering is different on the side of the moon facing us compared to the other side (due to the earth's gravity attracting more objects of different sizes after the moon became tidally locked to the earth) you could look for a similar effect, however since the earth rotates relative to the sun, and that rotation rate has chnged, that seems unlikely.<br /><br />So, don't panic! No matter where you are on the earth, you're just as likely to be whacked as anyone else!<br /><br />The only folks in more danger are those near the coasts of the world (what is that, 50% of the earth's population?) who could be swamped by an oceanic impact, causing a tsunami. Earth is more than 2/3 ocean, which means more than 2/3 of the impacts occur there.<br /><br />Don't worry, as we keep looking, the map will even out more : <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>