
Its not that detailed (and innacurate I know


So, what d'ya think?
-Neethis
fsgregs wrote:Dear Chacal:
You are correct in considering the oceans at the site of impact (a shallow section of the Gulf of Mexico near what is now the Yukatan). However, by no means were most of the oceans vaporized. Most of them were completely untouched and were not even heated. The death of 70% of life on Earth, including many creatures in the oceans, was caused primarily by a major drop in sunlight (asteroid winter), followed immediately by a deep freeze, followed by a runaway greenhouse effect caused by enormous amounts of CO2 and methane being put into the atmosphere from the burning of global forests.
It is a complicated story that I don't want to elaborate here, but respectfully, the only area of ocean vaporized by the impact was a 10 - 20 mile section directly at impact site.
Regards,
Frank
fsgregs wrote:Fridger:
Hi. The sequence of events is indeed complicated. Some articles I've read and some documentaries I've seen outline the events following the impact as one of immediate volcanic eruption at site of impact, steam explosions of titanic proportions, molten vaporized rock being ejected to heights exceeding 100 km, smoke, ash, continental forest fires set by burning debris, etc. That led to an asteroid winter, with some scenarios placing the sky at near dark for six months or longer, causing massive global cooling and climate change which led to massive plant death, which led to animal starvation, etc. Recently, I encountered a new twist, in which the burning of so much forest placed so much CO2 and methane in the atmosphere that it led to a subsequent high greenhouse effect, causing a large shift in climate in the other direction.
I'm sure my source of articles is not the level of yours. I basically learn a lot of my science from the popular science press, to include such magazines as Discover, Scientific American and occasionally, "Nature", plus a host of documentaries aired on PBS stations in the U.S. I also extensively read articles on science websites to include those of NASA, the Near Earth Program, Space.com, Astronomy.com, JPL.gov, etc.
Before I would write the Activity, I would of course, research the entire impact to refresh my understanding of it, but there you have it.
Frank
fsgregs wrote:However, by no means were most of the oceans vaporized. Most of them were completely untouched and were not even heated. The death of 70% of life on Earth, including many creatures in the oceans, was caused primarily by a major drop in sunlight (asteroid winter), followed immediately by a deep freeze, followed by a runaway greenhouse effect caused by enormous amounts of CO2 and methane being put into the atmosphere from the burning of global forests.
t00fri wrote:I can only repeat myself in emphasizing once more that authors of popular science magazins and TV shows are first of all judged by their ability of attracting a large crowd of people with their stories. Scientific correctness i.e. a clean separation of facts and fiction is usually of secondary importance!
Bye Fridger
Dollan wrote:t00fri wrote:I can only repeat myself in emphasizing once more that authors of popular science magazins and TV shows are first of all judged by their ability of attracting a large crowd of people with their stories. Scientific correctness i.e. a clean separation of facts and fiction is usually of secondary importance!
Bye Fridger
The makers of the movie "Armageddon" would likely agree with you. The publishers and writers of Astronomy and Discover magazines on the other hand would probably be rather insulted.
Just because something is geared towards the "common folk" doesn't mean it is, by default, incorrect.
...John...