Posted on 01/01/2004 8:33:27 PM PST by Happy2BMe
(Have you looked outside tonight?)
Early in the Late Bronze Age, the volcano at the center of the island of Santorini (or Thera) erupted on a scale which may have had no parallel among eruptions over the past four or five millennia by volcanoes located in or near densely populated areas of the globe. The caldera (or crater) created by this eruption of the Theran volcano is said to have measured as much as 83 square kilometers in area. It presently extends down as much as 480 meters below sea level inside of the wall of cliffs which ring it and which themselves rise up as much as 300 meters above sea level.
You mean Santorini in 1628BC? That's the one I believe provided the fireworks for the biblical Exodus.
Ten million years ago, what became Ashfall was a watering hole in the middle of a savanna -- a flat, warm and humid grassland much like some areas of Africa today. The animals would gather here to drink. Hunters would prey on smaller species, sick or young animals. More than 40 species of plants and animals were common visitors or residents. Hundreds of miles to the west, a huge volcano spews ash across the plains, including the site that becomes Ashfall.
All of that changed one day. Hundreds of miles to the west, in what is now Idaho, a huge volcano erupted. Scientists now estimate that this eruption was at least 100 times greater than the recent Mount St. Helens eruption. The volcanic ash from the ancient eruption was carried by the winds across the plains and eventually deposited approximately one foot of volcanic ash dust over much of northern Nebraska. The volcanic ash began to blow around like fresh snow. Eventually the high ground was blown free of ash, but low-lying areas, like the watering hole at Ashfall, were filled to depths of eight feet or more. The scene has been described as a gray blizzard.
When this ash is examined under a microscope, it is made up of millions of sharp, jagged particles of rock and glass. The animals and birds around the watering hole could not help but breathe in these rough particles. Birds and turtles were the first species to die as their lungs filled up with sediment. Musk deer and small carnivores were the next to die. The larger animals were also having trouble breathing. Inside their bodies, their bones were growing abnormal patches of highly porous new bone mater, especially around the lower jaw and on the shafts of major limbs and the ribs. This is evidence that they were not getting enough oxygen. Over the period of a few days to a few weeks, horses and camels began to die, and scavengers would circle in, gnawing the flesh down to the bone. The last animals to die were the large rhinos and as they died some babies were still trying to suckle. Source - NETV.
Finally, even the largest animals had to return to the pond to drink. A herd of nearly 100 rhinos must have shuffled through the clouds of blowing ash to get to the pond. Some mothers had baby rhinos by their sides. But the ash became too much for even these large animals. Some of the mothers died. Their young still tried to nurse, and then they died as well.
Gradually, more ash drifted in on the wind, and the entire death scene was buried. Probably because of the danger that the ash presented to later scavengers, the site remained relatively untouched for the next 10 million years.
No, they're not. Wonder why.
Don't know. A day or so?
(Great catch by the way - thanks!)
It really was used by some raghead to predict allah's judgment on America (his google forum has since been cancelled).
And you're right, this did have something to do with the origin of the article:
Following the report, Almojahid commented "Wake up America before you get God's revenge!"
However, in a telephone interview Cornet (www.monmouth.com/~bcornet/sow.htm) was distressed to learn that his comments were being used in such a manner. He said, "I don't like it one bit and it certainly makes me not want to say anything more about such events unless there is a real time immediate danger. Hypotheticals are not necessary."
Cornet explained the origin of his statements about Yellowstone Park. After watching a British Broadcasting Corporation report on Yellowstone, he quoted some of the information he had seen in the the documentary and sent it to a friend by e-mail. Cornet said his friend immediately put the information on his web site and it soon made its way onto many other sites as well.
Cornet said, "I then did my in- depth research and found out there was an alternative viewpoint–a very scientific one. The more I looked into this, I saw Yellowstone has more bark than bite. It is a dying super volcano."
Cornet said with the exception of those people living in the immediate vicinity of the park, the public is fairly safe. Cornet said while there could be a few more minor eruptions occurring in the future he does not anticipate they will be "tomorrow or next week." He said that any bigger eruptions should be considered as being somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 years away.
The time frame was the missing part in the BBC report, Cornet said. While the documentary talked much about what could happen, it neglected to mention that it would be many years in the future, he said.
The director of Jihad Watch (www.jihadwatch.org), Robert Spencer, is not very impressed with Almojahid's on line threats. Spencer, a writer and researcher who has studied Islam for more than 20 years said "I do not take the threats above seriously, although there seem to be other threats that have led to the heightened threat level. Aaron Weisburd at Internet Haganah has discovered that Daleel Al-Mojahid is posting from Dubai, and doesn't seem to have any real connection with Al-Qaeda. I present his ravings above not as the contents of a real threat, but (as I said above) as a glimpse into the jihadist mindset, which, alas, is shared by millions today. (One other thing: are real terrorists using the Internet? Sure.)
The plume from Pinatubo was 26 miles high.
The TV Documentry stated that is two meters of ash in eastern Ohio, NOT fifty feet of ash.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.