GEOL 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 40: Sevier Orogeny, Impact Crater, Tethys Ocean
5 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
There was nothing that could be done to prevent the asteroid impact that happened 65 million years ago. The following data about near-earth objects are from the anglo-australian observatory"s research astronomer duncan steel"s book rouge asteroids and doomsday comets. About 2,000 objects massive enough (1 km diameter) to cause global catastrophe are known to cross earth"s orbit. Basketball-size - 1 per month 50-m rock that would destroy an area the size of new jersey - 1 per. 1-km asteroid - 1 per 100,000 years. 2-km asteroid - 1 per 500,000 years. A nemesis parabolic comet impactor at high velocity (<20 km s-1) capable of wiping out most animal and plant life would give us only a 6-month warning. When the asteroid hit the earth, it hit carbonate rocks that heated which caused it to catch on fire and burned all the forests. Also, covering the earth in acid rain clouds which blocked the sun light and cooled the earth.
