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 ...
Satellite image of the Vredefort Dome meteor impact crater (Photo: Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association)
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...
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. :')
Good advice. :'D
Was this impact (rocks) from which King Tut's jewelery was made?
That does ring a bell. Probably an FR topic about that...
You do know that 42.7% of all statistics are made up, don't you?
[rimshot!]
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
yes, what could be more sensible than gradualism?
She's alive! She's alive! ;') Gradually, I came around to catastrophism. :'D
"...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?
Of course uniformitarianism is totally wrong.
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Just an update.
Note: this topic is from 12/06/2006. Just an update.
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