Giant Crater Found [in Antarctica]: Tied to Worst Mass Extinction Ever [Permo-Triassic]

SPACE.com ^ | June 2, 2006 | Robert Roy Britt

[cogitator]

An apparent crater as big as Ohio has been found in Antarctica. Scientists think it was carved by a space rock that caused the greatest mass extinction on Earth, 250 million years ago.

The crater, buried beneath a half-mile of ice and discovered by some serious airborne and satellite sleuthing, is more than twice as big as the one involved in the demise of the dinosaurs.

The crater's location, in the Wilkes Land region of East Antarctica, south of Australia, suggests it might have instigated the breakup of the so-called Gondwana supercontinent, which pushed Australia northward, the researchers said.

"This Wilkes Land impact is much bigger than the impact that killed the dinosaurs, and probably would have caused catastrophic damage at the time," said Ralph von Frese, a professor of geological sciences at Ohio State University.

How they found it

The crater is about 300 miles wide. It was found by looking at differences in density that show up in gravity measurements taken with NASA's GRACE satellites. Researchers spotted a mass concentration, which they call a mascon—dense stuff that welled up from the mantle, likely in an impact.

"If I saw this same mascon signal on the Moon, I'd expect to see a crater around it," Frese said. (The Moon, with no atmosphere, retains a record of ancient impacts in the visible craters there.)

So Frese and colleagues overlaid data from airborne radar images that showed a 300-mile wide sub-surface, circular ridge. The mascon fit neatly inside the circle.

"And when we looked at the ice-probing airborne radar, there it was," he said today.

Smoking gun?

The Permian-Triassic extinction, as it is known, wiped out most life on land and in the oceans. Researchers have long suspected a space rock might have been involved. Some scientists have blamed volcanic activity or other culprits.

The die-off set up conditions that eventually allowed dinosaurs to rule the planet.

The newfound crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Chicxulub space rock is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes Land meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide, the researchers said.

Confirmation needed

Postdoctoral researcher Laramie Potts assisted in the discovery.

The work was financed by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The discovery, announced today, was initially presented in a poster paper at the recent American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly meeting in Baltimore.

The researchers say further work is needed to confirm the finding. One way to do that would be to go there and collect rock from the crater to see if its structure matches what would be expected from such a colossal impact.

[kerryusama04]

The crater, buried beneath a half-mile of ice and discovered by some serious airborne and satellite sleuthing, is more than twice as big as the one involved in the demise of the dinosaurs.

I didn't know that the "dinosaurs were killed by a meteor" theory had graduated to fact.

[NormsRevenge]

The newfound crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Chicxulub space rock is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes Land meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide, the researchers said.

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A 30 mile wide chunk can leave a mark.

That it is under a thick layer of ice and they can still detect it is pretty cool.

Why 250 million years ago. and what else lies out there.. not sure. we need more spaceborne instruments, more eyes on the sky, it's a busy place out there, stuff flying all over..

[Bosco]

If you're an Ohioan, the definite article i.e. - "The Ohio State University" - is seen as trying to be uppity by regular folks. Hence my post.

We have plenty of football players, thanks.

[kerryusama04]

The newfound crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Ahhhh, answered my own question. It is so hard to take "scientists" seriously these days.

[Tzimisce]

Interesting

[Mike Darancette]

Tekeli-li!

Getting our geologic information from the Necronomicon are we?

[cogitator]

I didn't know that the "dinosaurs were killed by a meteor" theory had graduated to fact.

That statement had good wording, because some of the absolute most recent K/T boundary research is downplaying the likelihood that the Chicxulub crater caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and the climate change + increased volcanism theory is regaining lost ground.

[dhs12345]

Sorry, didn't read it. Just thought it was amusing and looked the creature up on the Internet. Sounds like you are recommending it. I will look for it at the book store.

[Integrityrocks]

Now, that's how I want to die. Splat. Done.

[Lord_Baltar]

You've got a better answer?

[Lokibob]

Asteroid or comet triggered death of most species 250 million years ago

	Click on image for high-resolution version.
	Luann Becker, a University of Washington acting assistant professor of Earth and Space Sciences, holds a vial with buckminsterfullerenes extracted from sediment at the Permian-Triassic boundary. Equipment used to extract the molecules and a model "Buckyball" are in the background. (University of Washington Photo by Kathy Sauber)

Earth's most severe mass extinction - an event 250 million years ago that wiped out 90 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of land vertebrates - was triggered by a collision with a comet or asteroid, according to new findings by a team led by a University of Washington scientist.

The collision wasn't directly responsible for the extinction but rather triggered a series of events, such as massive volcanism and changes in ocean oxygen, sea level and climate. Those in turn led to species extinction on a wholesale level, said Luann Becker, UW acting assistant professor of Earth and Space Sciences.

"If the species cannot adjust, they perish. It's a survival-of-the-fittest sort of thing," Becker said. "To knock out 90 percent of organisms, you've got to attack them on more than one front."

 

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Read more here:

http://www.washington.edu/newsroom/news/2001archive/02-01archive/k022201.html

 

....Bob

[kerryusama04]

check out my post #24.

[Blzbba]

Lovecraft would be proud of you!

[kerryusama04]

You've got a better answer?

LOL! The Scientific Method as taught to me in the 7th Grade is dead.

[Gothmog]

It looks like they actually found Magneto's Antarctic lair, ha ha ha

[stop_fascism]

And Bush did nothing to prevent it.

[blasater1960]

Haliburton Hegemony Conspiracy did it

[geezerwheezer]

Wow, glad it missed hitting me.....! :0 )

[Glenn]

You poor guys need to get some more football players.........

Why? Are prisons in danger of vacancies?

[Glenn]

It is so hard to take "scientists" seriously these days.

Right. Our religious leaders have done so much to explain the observable.