Friday, June 02, 2006
Speaking of rocks falling from the sky...
Image Credit Ohio University. Map of East Antarctica showing crater, circled, in comparison to the Chicxulub crater.While the debris of 73P didn't put on a sky show, the creatures of the Permian may have had a far too spectacular show. Researchers have used radar and gravitational anomaly mapping to locate what appears to be a 300 km wide crater buried a mile under the Antarctic ice. Bigger than the Chicxulub crater associated with the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction event, this crater appears to coincide with the massive Permian extinction event. Of course, the crater has to be confirmed as an asteroid impact, a bit difficult when under all that ice, but the investigators will look for characteristic rocks scoured out by ice streams. Some great images of the area, and comparisons with other craters, can be found here.
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:40 pm 
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
Click to read about or order
