MadSci Network: Earth Sciences |
They could not. Debris from planets are highly unlikely to reach space, though they can. Remember that in order for something to escape the gravity of a planet, it must be propelled with tremendous energy. Even after our giant space shuttles use up tons and tons of fuel to go into space, they are still within the Earth's gravity and orbit it. Have you ever seen what it looks like when a volcano erupts? The magma literally seeps out of the Earth's surface, and flows slowly down the mountain. The energy put into moving that liquid rock is just enough to get it out from under the crust- nowhere near the propulsion needed to even get it into the air. However, it has occurred that "lava bombs," clumps of magma that are actually explosively propelled from the volcano, but they are never large enough nor go high enough to reach space. (thanks to John Christie, for that last information)
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Earth Sciences.