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BOILING SEAS LINKED TO MASS EXTINCTION (AND BIBLICAL FLOOD)
Nature Science Update ^ | 22 August 2003 | TOM CLARKE

Posted on 08/25/2003 11:12:31 AM PDT by Mike Darancette

A massive methane explosion frothing out of the world's oceans 250 million years ago caused the Earth's worst mass extinction, claims a US geologist.

Similar, smaller-scale events could have happened since, which might explain the Biblical flood, for example, suggests Gregory Ryskin of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois1. And they could happen again: "It's a very conjectural idea but it's too important to ignore," says Ryskin.

Up to 95% of Earth's marine species disapeared at the end of the Permian period. Some 70% of land species, including plants, insects and vertebrates, also perished. "It's arguably the single most important event in biology but there's no consensus as to what happened," says palaeontologist Andrew Knoll of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massacheusetts.

Ryskin contends that methane from bacterial decay or from frozen methane hydrates in deep oceans began to be released. Under the enormous pressure from water above, the gas dissolved in the water at the bottom of the ocean and was trapped there as its concentration grew.

Just one disturbance - a small meteorite impact or even a fast moving mammal - could then have brought the gas-saturated water closer to the surface. Here it would have bubbled out of solution under the reduced pressure. Thereafter the process would have been unstoppable: a huge overturning of the water layers would have released a vast belch of methane.

The oceans could easily have contained enough methane to explode with a force about 10,000 times greater than the world's entire nuclear-weapons stockpile, Ryskin argues. "There would be mortality on a massive scale," he says.

"It's a wacky idea," says geologist Paul Wignall of the University of Leeds, UK, "but not so wild that it shouldn't be taken seriously." There is evidence that the oceans stagnated at the end of the Permian period. And the chemical signature in fossils of the time hints there was a massive change in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide would have been produced as methane broke down or exploded in the atmosphere.

After all, belches of trapped methane from lakes and oceans are "a rare but well-known maritime hazard", Wignall adds.

Flood warning

The same phenomenon could explain more recent events, such as the Biblical flood, Ryskin also argues. An eruption from Europe's stagnant Black Sea would fit the bill. There is even some geological evidence that such an event took place 7,000-8,000 years ago.

Other sluggish seas might still be accumulating methane at their depths and could represent a future hazard, Ryskin adds. "Even if there's only a small probability that I am right, we should start looking for areas of the ocean where this might be happening," he argues.

References 1. Ryskin, G. Methane driven oceanic eruptions and mass extinctions. Geology, 31, 737 - 740, (2003).

(c) Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blacksea; blackseaflood; catastrophism; climate; extinction; flood; globalwarminghoax; godsgravesglyphs; grandcanyon; greatflood; gregoryryskin; methane; noah; noahsflood; paulwignall; tomclarke; turass
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To: ido_now
Where did it come from and where did it go?

The polar regions.

61 posted on 08/26/2003 7:18:59 AM PDT by asformeandformyhouse
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To: Light Speed
You're still scaring me.

Mega ZZZZZZZOT theory. Extremely interesting reading - just started.

Thanks.
62 posted on 08/26/2003 8:32:24 AM PDT by frithguild (Better living through technology)
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To: asformeandformyhouse
"Where did it come from and where did it go?

The polar regions."

Incorrect, if all the non-ocean water were dupulicated, including polar ice and placed on the earth it would raise sea level about 400 feet around the globe. This would hardly be enough to deposit Noa's Ark above 10,000 feet on Mt Ararat in Turkey.
63 posted on 08/26/2003 9:24:18 AM PDT by ido_now
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To: Diamond
"Then the question becomes where did the prone person come from and where did he go? Mountain ranges were "pushed up" by tectonic plate forces sometime making sea beds "appear" on top of what have become mountains.

Yes, but then what is the point of your water volume calculations?"

I though I was commenting on a least a "semi-scientific" article. In this attempt I see that I am stepping all over "reliious faith"

Let me just say that it was a "Act of God."

64 posted on 08/26/2003 9:30:06 AM PDT by ido_now
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To: ido_now
Incorrect, if all the non-ocean water were dupulicated, including polar ice and placed on the earth it would raise sea level about 400 feet around the globe. This would hardly be enough to deposit Noa's Ark above 10,000 feet on Mt Ararat in Turkey.

Why do you assume that it is Mt. Ararat in Turkey that the ark rested upon? The Bible mentions the mountains of Ararat, but the mountain in Turkey was not historically named Ararat. Ararat was a more recent naming.

In fact, the word 'ararat' means 'the curse reversed'. Therefore the Ark rested on the mountains when the curse had been reversed.

There is only one verse in the Bible which gives us a hint of where we the ark came to rest, "the ark rested...upon the mountains of Ararat." Genesis 8:4. Where is Ararat? The name Ararat is a large area or ancient country covering eastern Turkey, western Iran and western Russia. "The name Ararat, as it appears in the Bible, is the Hebrew equivalent of ...Uratu, ancient country of southwest Asia...mentioned in Assyrian sources from the early 13th century BC" Encyclopaedia Britanica 15th ed. Some have mistakenly assumed the Bible meant the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat (Agri Dagh), but that is not the case. Mount Ararat is 17,000 feet tall, and is a post-Flood volcanic mountain that gained its extra height after the Flood, therefore there is no reason to assume it is a more likely candidate for the resting place of the ark. The ark came to rest in the mountains of the ancient country of Uratu, not Mt. Ararat.

65 posted on 08/26/2003 9:48:39 AM PDT by asformeandformyhouse
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To: ido_now
In this attempt I see that I am stepping all over "reliious faith"

My question has nothing to do with religious faith. It is a question of historicity, i.e. what happened? I do not understand the point of your water volume calculations.

Cordially,

66 posted on 08/26/2003 9:56:23 AM PDT by Diamond
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To: Mike Darancette
There was a program on Discovery a few nights ago. Some geneticists were talking about a bottleneck that happened in human populations at one time thousands of years ago when the entire population of humans was reduced to only 5-10,000 worldwide.

(Prior to that time there was a dramatically larger genetic diversity among humans.)

The program was about looking to the possibility of a caldera explosion around Sumatra, I believe, as the cause of the cataclysm. Particles apparently blocked the sun and killed most vegetation and life.

Anyway, something did happen. Looks like there are some theories as to what that may have been.

67 posted on 08/26/2003 10:13:05 AM PDT by marsh2
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To: marsh2
The program was about looking to the possibility of a caldera explosion around Sumatra, I believe, as the cause of the cataclysm.

When you take a cube of Sulfur rich material almost 9 miles on a side and eject it 10-20 miles into the air in one explosive event as happened with the Toba Caldera 74,000 years ago you can expect very bad things to happen.

68 posted on 08/26/2003 3:45:01 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (This space to let.)
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To: farmfriend
Add me to the list please. Thanks
69 posted on 08/26/2003 4:00:44 PM PDT by the-ironically-named-proverbs2
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To: the-ironically-named-proverbs2
Heck of a handle you got there. Thank God for cut and paste. Consider youself added. Thanks.
70 posted on 08/26/2003 8:59:07 PM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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A Blast from the Past (2003).
Catastrophism
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)

71 posted on 08/06/2006 7:17:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Thursday, July 27, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: smith288

You can dig brimstone out of the clay along the Red Sea and dead sea, its sulfur basically and burns if ignited with a flame.


72 posted on 08/06/2006 7:23:34 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: MHGinTN
You can dig brimstone out of the clay along the Red Sea and dead sea, its sulfur basically and burns if ignited with a flame. Wow...I posted that in 2003. lol
73 posted on 08/07/2006 5:43:29 AM PDT by smith288 (goBIGnetwork.com - You a startup?)
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To: smith288
But I didn't see it on the Discovery Channel until a couple of weeks ago ... : ^{ )
74 posted on 08/07/2006 6:30:13 AM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: Light Speed

You are the guy who is sending me those nonsensical Viagra e-mails aren't you? Please stop, you are getting on my nerves.


75 posted on 08/07/2006 6:43:56 AM PDT by Ditter
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An oldie:

· Catastrophism ping list · join · view topics · view or post blog messages · bookmark ·

76 posted on 08/20/2006 2:52:39 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Thursday, August 10, 2006. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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update:
 
Catastrophism
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic ·

77 posted on 06/27/2008 10:00:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_________________________Profile updated Friday, May 30, 2008)
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· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
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78 posted on 06/27/2008 10:00:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_________________________Profile updated Friday, May 30, 2008)
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To: ido_now

See now, there you go. Getting all rational on us.

I want one of those T shorts that says “Stop Plate Tectonics!”

:D


79 posted on 06/27/2008 10:03:44 PM PDT by FixedandDilated
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To: aculeus; Billthedrill; Ezekiel
It’s a file system what dunnit.

“You couldn’t fill a 128-bit storage pool without boiling the oceans.”

80 posted on 06/27/2008 10:14:48 PM PDT by dighton
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