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The world's biggest meteor crater [ Vredefort Dome, South Africa ]
South Africa Info ^ | Tue, 5 Dec 2006 | Mary Alexander

Posted on 12/06/2006 10:50:15 PM PST by SunkenCiv

Two billion years ago a meteorite 10km in diameter hit the earth about 100km southwest of Johannesburg, creating an enormous impact crater. This area, near Vredefort in the Free State, is now known as the Vredefort Dome... The meteorite, larger than Table Mountain, caused a thousand-megaton blast of energy. The impact would have vaporised about 70 cubic kilometres of rock - and may have increased the earth's oxygen levels to a degree that made the development of multicellular life possible... The original crater, now eroded away, was probably 250 to 300 kilometres in diameter. It was larger than the Sudbury impact structure in Canada, about 200km in diameter. At 2-billion years old, Vredefort is far older than the Chixculub structure in Mexico which, with an age of 65-million years, is the site of the impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

(Excerpt) Read more at southafrica.info ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: africa; asteroid; asteroids; astrobleme; astronomy; bolide; bolides; catastrophism; comet; comets; extinction; godsgravesglyphs; impact; impacts; meteornotmeteorite; orosirianperiod; paleontology; paleoproterozoic; science; southafrica; tutankhamen; tutankhamun; tutankhaten; vredefort; vredefortcrater; vredefortdome
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Satellite image of the Vredefort Dome meteor impact crater (Photo: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association)

The worlds biggest meteor crater

1 posted on 12/06/2006 10:50:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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http://www.vredefortdome.co.za/


2 posted on 12/06/2006 10:55:13 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: 75thOVI; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; Avoiding_Sulla; BenLurkin; Berosus; CGVet58; chilepepper; ...
Catastrophism

3 posted on 12/06/2006 10:55:37 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
and may have increased the earth's oxygen levels to a degree that made the development of multicellular life possible...

And here all this time I've been told that photosynthesis was the cause of the oxygen.

4 posted on 12/07/2006 12:31:37 AM PST by AndrewC (Duckpond, LLD, JSD (all honorary))
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To: AndrewC
And here all this time I've been told that photosynthesis was the cause of the oxygen.

Don't believe 20.8% of everything you hear...

5 posted on 12/07/2006 4:16:50 AM PST by FDNYRHEROES (Always bring a liberal to a gunfight)
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To: AndrewC
And here all this time I've been told that photosynthesis was the cause of the oxygen.
On a cellular basis, plants are more complicated than animals, so one possibility that has presented itself (from the materialist/reductionist perspective) is that unicellular animals appeared first, and then plants came along sometime later. That was difficult for the just-so school, who figured that plants woudl have to arise first. Extremophile bacteria of some sort are the leading candidates for the first Earthly life, but having a nice healthy catastrophe come along means having something to saddle on right away, y'know, for people who think that everything must have some connection with gradualism. :')
6 posted on 12/07/2006 6:59:45 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: FDNYRHEROES

Good advice. :'D


7 posted on 12/07/2006 7:05:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Was this impact (rocks) from which King Tut's jewelery was made?


8 posted on 12/07/2006 11:16:52 AM PST by blam
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To: blam

That does ring a bell. Probably an FR topic about that...


9 posted on 12/07/2006 12:41:16 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: FDNYRHEROES

You do know that 42.7% of all statistics are made up, don't you?


10 posted on 12/07/2006 3:43:09 PM PST by JRios1968 (Tagline wanted...inquire within)
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To: FDNYRHEROES

[rimshot!]


11 posted on 12/07/2006 9:49:01 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam

King Tut's Necklace Shaped By Fireball
The Australian | 6-26-2006
Posted on 06/26/2006 7:32:58 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656059/posts


12 posted on 12/07/2006 9:51:57 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

yes, what could be more sensible than gradualism?


13 posted on 12/07/2006 9:58:18 PM PST by ValerieUSA
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To: ValerieUSA

She's alive! She's alive! ;') Gradually, I came around to catastrophism. :'D


14 posted on 12/07/2006 10:05:58 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

"...structure in Yucatan which led to the extinction of the dinosaurs..."

Except if you accept the argument of Chatergee (sp?) in India who believes that the Shiva crater was also formed about the same time, 65 million years ago, and as a much larger structure, 400 by 600 kilometers, probably was a much more significant factor in the demise of the dinosaurs. As his beliefs are being questioned by others, does anyone have any late info on this argument?


15 posted on 12/08/2006 11:35:14 PM PST by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
Hey, thanks!
Google

16 posted on 12/08/2006 11:58:00 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, November 16, 2006 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
I think the term "gradualism" is usually called "uniformitarianism" so they can rope in geologic change as well.

Of course uniformitarianism is totally wrong.

17 posted on 01/04/2007 9:33:22 AM PST by muawiyah
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Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

18 posted on 01/10/2007 11:44:18 AM PST by SunkenCiv ("I've learned to live with not knowing." -- Richard Feynman https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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Just an update.

19 posted on 12/13/2015 3:20:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: 75thOVI; Abathar; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; ...
Note: this topic is from 12/06/2006. Just an update.



20 posted on 12/13/2015 3:23:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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