11,000 B.C. Extinction

[moses]

Well pangea is very unlikely in my view, with instead the oceans undergoing EDM. So no continental drift nor Earth expansion. And having meteorites instead of planetary interactions does not thrill me much. And although it would be possible for the entire geological column to have begun formation only thousands of years ago, it seems that interstellar distances would be the main factor in major disturbances, and so at least tens of thousands of years are probably involved with long periods of stability.

I do see the geological record as being more useful than the historical or mythological evidence. And I do consider planetary science as the study of catastrophe and extinction.
Mo

[kell1990]

http://t.co/QYBs0B1x

Posted for the benefit of the group. It seems to show that some sort of impact was responsible for the dramatic temperature change @ around 13,000 bp.

[StevenJay]

From the link:

"The very high temperature melt-glass appears identical to that produced in known cosmic impact events such as Meteor Crater in Arizona, and the Australasian tektite field," said Kennett.

"known," eh?

"The melt material also matches melt-glass produced by the Trinity nuclear airburst of 1945 in Socorro, New Mexico," he continued. "The extreme temperatures required are equal to those of an atomic bomb blast, high enough to make sand melt and boil."

I can think of another force that can produce those temps. Interesting that they noted that the same sort of melt-glass resulted from a non-impact senario, but didn't follow that line of thought any further.

[kell1990]

From the link:

"The very high temperature melt-glass appears identical to that produced in known cosmic impact events such as Meteor Crater in Arizona, and the Australasian tektite field," said Kennett.

"known," eh?

"The melt material also matches melt-glass produced by the Trinity nuclear airburst of 1945 in Socorro, New Mexico," he continued. "The extreme temperatures required are equal to those of an atomic bomb blast, high enough to make sand melt and boil."

I can think of another force that can produce those temps. Interesting that they noted that the same sort of melt-glass resulted from a non-impact senario, but didn't follow that line of thought any further.

Also from the link: "The presence of a thick charcoal layer in the ancient village in Syria indicates a major fire associated with the melt-glass and impact spherules 12,900 years ago," he continued. "Evidence suggests that the effects on that settlement and its inhabitants would have been severe."

There is one major problem with the impact hypothesis: Where's the crater (or craters)? AFAIK the present explanation is that the object hit a glacier, and thus left no crater at all. But if it hit a huge slab of ice, then how did it get hot enough to melt sand beneath the glacier and how did the remnants get scattered all over the place, from California to (at least) Syria ? Why is there a "thick charcoal layer" in Syria but not other places?

One way that can account for all the available evidence is a massive electrical arc (think of a huge welding rod striking a metallic plate) moving across the affected area.

I'd previously thought that this might have been caused by a passing celestial object that affected the area from about South 10 to 15 degrees latitude to about 45 degrees North latitude. Now I think that it couldn't have spread further South than the Equator because the curvature of the Earth would have shielded most of the discharge. This, of course, is speculation but it's a better explanation than an impact without a crater.

[sjw40364]

Whatever it was, and I tend to favor the plasma discharge theory it must have been more dramatic than is speculated. We have worldwide myths of catastrophic events and our oldest civilization ruins date back to around 10,000-15,000 BCE, and Dave Talbot presents a compelling case on myths and their relations to an electrically active past.

[seasmith]

Luizi Structure, located in southeastern Congo

Satellite imagery suggested that Luizi might be an impact crater, but volcanoes and even salt domes can form structures that look like impact craters, so the researchers had to go into the field. They found shatter cones, and microscopic analysis of rock samples collected from the site revealed shocked quartz grains. Both shatter cones and shocked quartz are considered strong evidence of meteorite impacts.
Impact craters can be simple or complex. While simple craters have uncomplicated bowl shapes, complex craters sport features that can be counterintuitive, such as inner rings and central peaks. Geologists have linked both crater types to the action of high---

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/v ... c=eoa-iotd

[slug]

The map of the stars etched into an 'air shaft' in the Great Pyramid strongly suggests that this pyramid was not built anytime near 2,500 BC. It is most likely a depiction of the sky when the pyramid was built.

I do not buy into this "star chart etching" interpretation of this surface.

[moses]

I do not buy into this "star chart etching" interpretation of this surface.
slug
Then possibly some worker was trying to etch his name or just got a chance to do some doodling, or perhaps the blocks were actually made of cement and some child did some finger work on it before it set.
Mo

[webolife]

I'm with slug on this one.
Isolated out of context markings, like clouds, and the marbling on your shower wall, can be imagined to represent any shape your mind can fixate on. The alleged fuzzy-marked alignments are inexact at best, and this inexactness is being used to conclude an exact message by people living thousands of years ago... imaginative and amazing, and utterly incredible.

[kiwi]

was pondering the other day as how the "proposed" distance of Alnilam (Orion Belt Star) was "figured" .... sorry to get all "sciency" here ... just curious , and suspect the Red-Shift is at the bottom of it

Alnitak
Alnitak is approximately 736 light years away from Earth and, taking into consideration ultraviolet radiation, which the human eye cannot see, Alnitak is 100,000 times more luminous than the Sun.[2]
[edit]Alnilam
Alnilam is approximately 1340 light years away from earth and shines with magnitude 1.70. Considering ultraviolet light Alnilam is 375,000 times more luminous than the Sun.[3]
[edit]Mintaka
Mintaka is 915 light years away and shines with magnitude 2.21. Mintaka is 90,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Mintaka is a double star. Both stars orbit around each other every 5.73 days.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion's_Belt