Giant Crater Found: Tied to Worst Mass Extinction Ever
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 01 June 2006
06:07 pm ET

An apparent crater as big as Ohio has been found in Antarctica.
Scientists think it was carved by a space rock that caused the greatest
mass extinction on Earth, 250 million years ago.

The crater, buried beneath a half-mile of ice and discovered by some
serious airborne and satellite sleuthing, is more than twice as big as
the one involved in the demise of the dinosaurs.

The crater's location, in the Wilkes Land region of East Antarctica,
south of Australia, suggests it might have instigated the breakup of
the so-called Gondwana supercontinent, which pushed Australia
northward, the researchers said.

"This Wilkes Land impact is much bigger than the impact that killed the
dinosaurs, and probably would have caused catastrophic damage at the
time," said Ralph von Frese, a professor of geological sciences at Ohio
State University.

How they found it

The crater is about 300 miles wide. It was found by looking at
differences in density that show up in gravity measurements taken with
NASA's GRACE satellites. Researchers spotted a mass concentration,
which they call a mascon-dense stuff that welled up from the mantle,
likely in an impact.

"If I saw this same mascon signal on the Moon, I'd expect to see a
crater around it," Frese said. (The Moon, with no atmosphere, retains a
record of ancient impacts in the visible craters there.)

So Frese and colleagues overlaid data from airborne radar images that
showed a 300-mile wide sub-surface, circular ridge. The mascon fit
neatly inside the circle.

"And when we looked at the ice-probing airborne radar, there it was,"
he said today.

Smoking gun?

The Permian-Triassic extinction, as it is known, wiped out most life on
land and in the oceans. Researchers have long suspected a space rock
might have been involved. Some scientists have blamed volcanic activity
or other culprits.

The die-off set up conditions that eventually allowed dinosaurs to rule
the planet.

The newfound crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub crater
in the Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have
ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Chicxulub
space rock is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes Land
meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide, the researchers said.

Confirmation needed

Postdoctoral researcher Laramie Potts assisted in the discovery.

The work was financed by NASA and the National Science Foundation. The
discovery, announced today, was initially presented in a poster paper
at the recent American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly meeting in
Baltimore.

The researchers say further work is needed to confirm the finding. One
way to do that would be to go there and collect rock from the crater to
see if its structure matches what would be expected from such a
colossal impact.

www.space.com

heeheeheehee...
Satan >:)~

Giant Crater Found: Tied to Worst Mass Extinction Ever
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 01 June 2006
06:07 pm ET

An apparent crater as big as Ohio has been found in Antarctica.
Scientists think it was carved by a space rock that caused the

mass extinction on Earth, 250 million years ago.

The crater, buried beneath a half-mile of ice and discovered by

serious airborne and satellite sleuthing, is more than twice as

the one involved in the demise of the dinosaurs.

The crater's location, in the Wilkes Land region of East

south of Australia, suggests it might have instigated the breakup

the so-called Gondwana supercontinent, which pushed Australia
northward, the researchers said.

"This Wilkes Land impact is much bigger than the impact that

dinosaurs, and probably would have caused catastrophic damage at

time," said Ralph von Frese, a professor of geological sciences at

State University.

How they found it

The crater is about 300 miles wide. It was found by looking at
differences in density that show up in gravity measurements taken

NASA's GRACE satellites. Researchers spotted a mass concentration,
which they call a mascon-dense stuff that welled up from the

likely in an impact.

"If I saw this same mascon signal on the Moon, I'd expect to see a
crater around it," Frese said. (The Moon, with no atmosphere,

record of ancient impacts in the visible craters there.)

So Frese and colleagues overlaid data from airborne radar images

showed a 300-mile wide sub-surface, circular ridge. The mascon fit
neatly inside the circle.

"And when we looked at the ice-probing airborne radar, there it

he said today.

Smoking gun?

The Permian-Triassic extinction, as it is known, wiped out most

land and in the oceans. Researchers have long suspected a space

might have been involved. Some scientists have blamed volcanic

or other culprits.

The die-off set up conditions that eventually allowed dinosaurs to

the planet.

The newfound crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub

in the Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have
ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The

space rock is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes

meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide, the researchers said.

Confirmation needed

Postdoctoral researcher Laramie Potts assisted in the discovery.

The work was financed by NASA and the National Science Foundation.

discovery, announced today, was initially presented in a poster

at the recent American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly meeting in
Baltimore.

The researchers say further work is needed to confirm the finding.

way to do that would be to go there and collect rock from the

see if its structure matches what would be expected from such a
colossal impact.

www.space.com

heeheeheehee...
Satan >:)~