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Asteroid strike made 'instant Himalayas'
BBC ^ | 18 Nov, 2916 | Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent

Posted on 11/18/2016 9:20:25 PM PST by MtnClimber

Scientists say they can now describe in detail how the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs produced its huge crater.

The reconstruction of the event 66 million years ago was made possible by drilling into the remnant bowl and analysing its rocks.

These show how the space impactor made the hard surface of the planet slosh back and forth like a fluid.

At one stage, a mountain higher than Everest was thrown up before collapsing back into a smaller range of peaks.

"And this all happens on the scale of minutes, which is quite amazing," Prof Joanna Morgan from Imperial College London, UK, told BBC News.

The researchers report their account in this week's edition of Science Magazine.

Their study confirms a very dynamic, very energetic model for crater formation, and will go a long way to explaining the resulting cataclysmic environmental changes.

The debris thrown into the atmosphere likely saw the skies darken and the global climate cool for months, perhaps even years, driving many creatures into extinction, not just the dinosaurs.

The team spent May to June this year drilling a core through the so-called Chicxulub Crater, now buried under ocean sediments off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; catastrophism; chicxulub; chicxulubcrater; crater; extinction; gulfofmexico; science; yucatan; yucatanpeninsula
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To: MtnClimber

Bfl!


21 posted on 11/19/2016 12:15:05 AM PST by 4Liberty (DEMOCRATS- Exporting Jobs, Importing Votes.)
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To: Glad2bnuts

I thought the Himalayas were the result of an upthrust from the collision of two tectonic plates.


22 posted on 11/19/2016 4:45:18 AM PST by IronJack
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To: IronJack

Himalayan-sized, not THE Hymalayas


23 posted on 11/19/2016 5:02:50 AM PST by rstrahan
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To: rstrahan
I quote: There was also a hit that formed the actual Himalayas

Which is not true ...

24 posted on 11/19/2016 5:52:31 AM PST by IronJack
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To: IronJack

Antipodes convergence shock resulted in Deccan Traps?


25 posted on 11/19/2016 8:44:28 AM PST by Ozark Tom
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To: Ozark Tom

The timing’s about right — the K-Pg boundary — and there’s some speculation that the Chixulub event may have contributed to the emergence of the Himalayan chain. Sounds far-fetched, but an antipodal event of that magnitude could have incredibly distant consequences.


26 posted on 11/19/2016 8:50:15 AM PST by IronJack
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To: MtnClimber

Thanks for the great article, fascinating science.


27 posted on 11/19/2016 9:31:37 AM PST by tupac (the crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe)
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To: IronJack

The plate of Asia is moving away from Australia and the Americas. Look at the maps, and you can actually see the ripples in the land. It is not a mainstream theory, and it is not mine. I do subscribe to it though.


28 posted on 11/19/2016 11:23:53 AM PST by Glad2bnuts (If Republicans are not prepared to carry on the Revolution of 1776, prepare for a communist takeover)
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To: MtnClimber

This is akin to one giant meteor landing in Mexico and puff, the dinosaurs are gone. Why only dinosaurs? What about elephants and gazelles? The science is dubious and only for the faint of heart.


29 posted on 11/19/2016 12:46:48 PM PST by Fungi
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To: Fungi
What about elephants and gazelles?

Mammals vs. reptiles. Not all reptiles went extinct either.

30 posted on 11/19/2016 12:53:53 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber; 75thOVI; Abathar; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; ...
Note: this topic is from . Thanks MtnClimber.

31 posted on 05/25/2018 2:12:06 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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