I've started reading on the KT Event, just to get some perspective on what different things were actually happening at the close of the Cretaceous. From the images I've seen of the ash layer, there is a very clear and distinct difference above and below the line. Even though the DVP was already erupting causing a slow die-off, it is not as noticeable as the KT layer. Besides, the gradual nature of the DVP extinctions would give time enough for animals and plants to adapt, evolve, and migrate - leaving survivors. Also, those furthest from the eruption would be less affected.
We cannot rule out the impact - or series of impacts, if that was the case - since they were the final killing strike. The KT layer thickens towards Mexico. This is obvious. How the Shiva impact works into the equation other than speeding up the Indian continent, is not yet clear. The Shiva impact is unlikely the cause of the upwarping of the Moho. That is an important piece of the puzzle and very specific. If Chicxulub and Shiva were of the same impact event, that only gives us a clue as to what hit us and adds more dynamics to the KT Event. Shiva just adds to the excitement.
As for the DVP, we can compare it to other major eruptions. I read something about the Toba eruption about 75,000 years ago. It is supposedly the largest eruption of the Quaternary but with no known major extinctions or other major problems brought about by it. A comparison might be in order between the Deccans and Toba and might just shed some light on the DVP part of the equation. Just some thoughts. Until later...
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Some Info on the Deccans
It is unclear from my preliminary research reading whether the Deccan Traps were erupting in this extreme way prior to the collision. It seems that the massive eruption may have already been going on for some time starting a slow die off of Late Cretaceous fauna caused by global warming as an after effect of the eruption.
One interesting piece of evidence is the Shiva crater - apparently another impact crater of the west coast of India and at the KT Boundary. That's two craters in the same time frame - relatively speaking. Could the collision have been a multi-impact event like the one that hit Jupiter a few years ago? Other than it being described as large, the Shiva crater's dimensions are not mentioned in detail. Is it larger than Chicxulub or smaller? Did both impacts occur together or with a long time period between?
Even with the Deccans erupting prior to impact, the global warming effect would take place over an extended period of time. Most animals and other organisms would surely have had time to adapt or move to better territories. Those most directly and immediately affected would be those living in the region of the Deccan Traps.
Much to think about and more to learn...
One interesting piece of evidence is the Shiva crater - apparently another impact crater of the west coast of India and at the KT Boundary. That's two craters in the same time frame - relatively speaking. Could the collision have been a multi-impact event like the one that hit Jupiter a few years ago? Other than it being described as large, the Shiva crater's dimensions are not mentioned in detail. Is it larger than Chicxulub or smaller? Did both impacts occur together or with a long time period between?
Even with the Deccans erupting prior to impact, the global warming effect would take place over an extended period of time. Most animals and other organisms would surely have had time to adapt or move to better territories. Those most directly and immediately affected would be those living in the region of the Deccan Traps.
Much to think about and more to learn...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
A Deccan Update
Just wanted to pop in and give an update. As I mentioned earlier, I have decided to try out my new strategy on the Deccan Traps issue. So far, I have some preliminary research resources to read as well as a couple professional journal articles. One article is about the age of a mantle plume source; the other is about major events at the end of the Cretaceous. I also did a quick brainstorming session a few days ago. Now I just added what I like to call a zero draft, less detailed than a full rough draft. As a matter of fact, this one is only one page long and bereft of any conclusions or even a single mention of the KT Boundary or the collision associated with it. However, I have also drawn up an outline to give me some direction and a focus and mentions more detail about the collision and boundary layer.
One important detail regarding this writing is going to be determining the evidence of the collision from that of the eruption. There is likely a distinct difference between the two, as far as evidence is concerned. This ought to make it clear which event took place first. Relative dating shows the Deccan Traps eruption took place some time after the impact. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it seems that most scientists are avoiding linking the two events in any way. Maybe they are afraid to lose credibility or that no one would take them seriously. Actually, I can see a good sound reason for this, as well. By holding off on linking the two events until more evidence is gathered and studied and more is known about each event, they are building up credible evidence to support a theory that definitely links the two.
Until next time...
One important detail regarding this writing is going to be determining the evidence of the collision from that of the eruption. There is likely a distinct difference between the two, as far as evidence is concerned. This ought to make it clear which event took place first. Relative dating shows the Deccan Traps eruption took place some time after the impact. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it seems that most scientists are avoiding linking the two events in any way. Maybe they are afraid to lose credibility or that no one would take them seriously. Actually, I can see a good sound reason for this, as well. By holding off on linking the two events until more evidence is gathered and studied and more is known about each event, they are building up credible evidence to support a theory that definitely links the two.
Until next time...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Night Pigeons Evolving in Pittsburgh
I observed something a bit unusual last night. I have noticed that some pigeons have taken to nighttime flying and roaming about on city streets. Last night I paid a bit more attention. What I noticed was the bird's coloring. Not the usual light grey with darker patches. This one was nearly all black - with some gray on its tail feathers and on the undersides of its wings while flying. This is probably to protect it from night predators like birds of prey and bats - though I don't think the local bats get big enough to kill a pigeon. A lighter colored pigeon would be more noticeable at night and at higher risk. They are not coming out in great numbers - only a daring few - taking advantage of the lighted streets and plenty of food to be found. They're developing their own new niche. It's something interesting to watch develop. I just love evolution in action!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Update, Developments, and the Deccan Traps
I have been very busy with class work and the like. Since my last post - I've written a set of instructions for measuring strike, dip, etc. with a Brunton. I collaborated on a website project. Yes, there's now a new website that I am partly responsible for - and it is about geological phenomena. It's just a simple site - a class assignment project. Truth to tell we all wanted it to have more "bells and whistles" - via cool links, a Google Earth download, and even a link to this blog - but, alas it was not meant to be. It just became impossible with other projects cramming for limited time and space in our busy schedules. It would have taken less than a couple hours to gather the links, etc. - but converting everything into the website would have likely taken longer and that was the final death nell for those plans. Fortunately, they were not essential for the assignment. We did it in basic HTML coding - much more difficult and time consuming than current methods. Embedding the Google Earth download into it might have been impossible anyhow. The site is aptly named - Environmental Phenomena in Geology - and can be accessed at www.pitt.edu/~ajh32/engcmp1101/.
I believe another good thing came from not adding at least the link to this blog. Some religious type has already seen the site and wrote a handwritten letter to me at my home address with their opinions regarding the phenomena covered in the site's content. This person claims that tsunamis and other potentially destructive natural forces are God's wrath for the sins of humanity. I could go into a massive commentary here about that but since religion is kind of off topic, I will refrain from doing so.
This reminds me of other previous scientists who were sent letters by religious types quoting scripture for all its worth - hopefully it's a foreshadowing of what's to come. If my blog was mentioned in the website - I'd be spending a lot of my time arguing with this woman instead of getting anything worthwhile done. If I believed that a dialogue would help this person see reason and reality, I wouldn't mind so much. Unfortunately folks like this are quite stubborn even when the obvious is put plain. The Mormons in my neighborhood steer clear of me - I think they've heard that they can't win an argument with me. I like to call these types - Sophists - after a group of similar men of ancient Greece. I have about as much respect for them as Socrates did - which is to say, not very much.
As for my research projects... First, I have a new one which may or may not be related to an old one. I went to the Dinosaur Hall Preview at the Carnegie - and while I was there I saw a short film about the Deccan Traps. I had heard snippets about them over the past few years and ran across them in a couple journal articles about the KT Event. They are a set of massive volcanoes located in India which had a massive eruption at the time of the extinction event. From what I've gathered so far on the topic, not many scientists are putting forth a possible correlation between the Chicxulub impact and this catastrophic eruption. The Traps are used as evidence of volcanism being the cause of the extinction - including the source of the Iridium anomaly. However, something the Carnegie paleontologists mentioned alluded to a cause and effect relationship between both events. I remember my physics and my knowledge of the Earth's interior.
Essentially, the Deccan Traps already existed prior to the KT Event. However, and timing is extremely important here, the severity of these End Cretaceous volcanics was catalyzed by an unusually high temperature heat source BELOW the already existent magma chamber and a massive up-warping of the Moho layer underlying the volcanoes. There is no known cause of such phenomena. Tectonic plate movement is currently held as the reason for the Traps strange behavior. Unfortunately, tectonics does not explain the extreme heating or the up-warping.
This is where the meteorite collision may shed some light on the answer. The object that hit Earth was massive enough to create a 3000 foot tsunami that literally travelled the globe. The crater still exists under the Yucatan Peninsula. The connection between both events is likely disturbing enough that scientists are sidestepping it - or just focusing on one event. Obviously, the locations of the two are the problem - one in India - the other in the Gulf of Mexico. How could they possibly be related?
Simple physics combined with the Earth's interior leads paleontologists to the conclusion that some sort of shockwave would have travelled through the Earth to the other side - exiting at the Deccan Traps site in India. It explains the heat source - outer core material carried along through the mantle - along an already existent mantle plume - to its final destination underneath the Deccan volcanoes. It also explains the major upwarping - from below - of the Moho layer.
The shockwave would not necessarily have traveled directly through the center of the planet. This would only have been the case if the object hit the Earth's surface perpendicularly - or straight down. It is already known that it actually collided at an oblique angle - thus sending the shockwave through the Earth's interior at the same angle. This means the shockwave would not have "exited" at the opposite side of the planet - but at some point along the surface that is in direct alignment with the initial impact/shockwave.
Well, I am getting a bit antsy to get on with my own research. And since I seem to always regret not running with a new idea when the topic hits me - I may as well start my newest strategy with this Deccan Traps project. I will mention the new strategy later - once I see if it's going to fly my way. If it works, I may have a new high speed method of getting my work moving along at a good clip. [all puns intended] Moving along...
I believe another good thing came from not adding at least the link to this blog. Some religious type has already seen the site and wrote a handwritten letter to me at my home address with their opinions regarding the phenomena covered in the site's content. This person claims that tsunamis and other potentially destructive natural forces are God's wrath for the sins of humanity. I could go into a massive commentary here about that but since religion is kind of off topic, I will refrain from doing so.
This reminds me of other previous scientists who were sent letters by religious types quoting scripture for all its worth - hopefully it's a foreshadowing of what's to come. If my blog was mentioned in the website - I'd be spending a lot of my time arguing with this woman instead of getting anything worthwhile done. If I believed that a dialogue would help this person see reason and reality, I wouldn't mind so much. Unfortunately folks like this are quite stubborn even when the obvious is put plain. The Mormons in my neighborhood steer clear of me - I think they've heard that they can't win an argument with me. I like to call these types - Sophists - after a group of similar men of ancient Greece. I have about as much respect for them as Socrates did - which is to say, not very much.
As for my research projects... First, I have a new one which may or may not be related to an old one. I went to the Dinosaur Hall Preview at the Carnegie - and while I was there I saw a short film about the Deccan Traps. I had heard snippets about them over the past few years and ran across them in a couple journal articles about the KT Event. They are a set of massive volcanoes located in India which had a massive eruption at the time of the extinction event. From what I've gathered so far on the topic, not many scientists are putting forth a possible correlation between the Chicxulub impact and this catastrophic eruption. The Traps are used as evidence of volcanism being the cause of the extinction - including the source of the Iridium anomaly. However, something the Carnegie paleontologists mentioned alluded to a cause and effect relationship between both events. I remember my physics and my knowledge of the Earth's interior.
Essentially, the Deccan Traps already existed prior to the KT Event. However, and timing is extremely important here, the severity of these End Cretaceous volcanics was catalyzed by an unusually high temperature heat source BELOW the already existent magma chamber and a massive up-warping of the Moho layer underlying the volcanoes. There is no known cause of such phenomena. Tectonic plate movement is currently held as the reason for the Traps strange behavior. Unfortunately, tectonics does not explain the extreme heating or the up-warping.
This is where the meteorite collision may shed some light on the answer. The object that hit Earth was massive enough to create a 3000 foot tsunami that literally travelled the globe. The crater still exists under the Yucatan Peninsula. The connection between both events is likely disturbing enough that scientists are sidestepping it - or just focusing on one event. Obviously, the locations of the two are the problem - one in India - the other in the Gulf of Mexico. How could they possibly be related?
Simple physics combined with the Earth's interior leads paleontologists to the conclusion that some sort of shockwave would have travelled through the Earth to the other side - exiting at the Deccan Traps site in India. It explains the heat source - outer core material carried along through the mantle - along an already existent mantle plume - to its final destination underneath the Deccan volcanoes. It also explains the major upwarping - from below - of the Moho layer.
The shockwave would not necessarily have traveled directly through the center of the planet. This would only have been the case if the object hit the Earth's surface perpendicularly - or straight down. It is already known that it actually collided at an oblique angle - thus sending the shockwave through the Earth's interior at the same angle. This means the shockwave would not have "exited" at the opposite side of the planet - but at some point along the surface that is in direct alignment with the initial impact/shockwave.
Well, I am getting a bit antsy to get on with my own research. And since I seem to always regret not running with a new idea when the topic hits me - I may as well start my newest strategy with this Deccan Traps project. I will mention the new strategy later - once I see if it's going to fly my way. If it works, I may have a new high speed method of getting my work moving along at a good clip. [all puns intended] Moving along...
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