Enigma of Cyclic Character Sedimentary Record of Earth

Enigma of Cyclic Character Sedimentary Record of Earth Cosmic Connection to Snowballs From Outer Space By Christopher George St. Clement Kendall Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Probability for us of Asteroid Impact USA • • • Motor Vehicle Accident 1 in 100 Homicide 1 in 300 Fire 1 in 800 Firearms Accident 1 in 2, 500 Electrocution 1 in 5, 000 Aircraft Accident 1 in 20, 000 Asteroid Impact 1 in 25, 000 Flood 1 in 30, 000 Tornado -1 in 60, 000 Venomous bite or sting 1 in 100, 000 Fireworks accident 1 in 1 million – Food Poisoning - Midlands. Astronomy 1 in 3 Club million Collisions! (after Chapman & Morrison)

Objects in space collide with Earth! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Shoemaker Levy 9 Comet Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Impacts cause a beat in sedimentary record? The stratigraphic record divided into repeated sequences bounded by erosional events or unconformities. Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Impacts cause a beat in sedimentary record? • Punctuation of stratigraphic record expressed as changes in geometric character of sediments bounded by erosional surfaces • Driven by changes in relative position of sea • Some of these changes in sea level may be a response to collisions with large fast objects from outer space? Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Beat of Sea Level change in sedimentary record? The stratigraphic record divided into repeated sequences bounded by erosional events or unconformities. Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Order & Frequency of Stratigraphic Sequences – Traditional Causes • 1 st • 2 nd • 3 rd • 4 th 50+Ma 1 -50 Ma Continental Breakup Oceanic ridge spreading & Crustal cooling 1 -5 Ma P Glacial Eustasy P Tectonism P Sediment Loading. 08 - 1 Ma Milankovitch Cycles & Tectonism Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Order & Frequency of Stratigraphic Sequences – Traditional Causes • 1 st • 2 nd • 3 rd • 4 th 50+Ma 1 -50 Ma Continental Breakup Oceanic ridge spreading & Crustal cooling 1 -5 Ma P Glacial Eustasy P Tectonism P Sediment Loading. 08 - 1 Ma Milankovitch Cycles & Tectonism Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Glacial/Eustatic Model – Problem • • 3 RD ORDER GEOLOGIC PERIODS WHEN GLACIAL/EUSTATIC SIGNALS ARE RECOGNIZED : Pleistocene and Late Tertiary Pennsylvanian and Permian Ordovician Precambrian Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Precession Wobble Tilt From Plane Eccentric Path of Earth Around Sun Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Coastlines – Ice Melts & Ice Sheet Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Glaciation in Permian Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Global 3 rd Order Sequences in Mesozoic Problem! • None of these effects are responsible for the 3 rd order global sequences in the Mesozoic • Eustatic Model –signals of glacial events are not recognized for Mesozoic or Early Tertiary Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Global 3 rd Order Sequences in Cenozoic Sequestration by Ice • Some global eustatic events could be responsible for 3 rd order global sequences linked to Late Tertiary & Quaternary glacial events (30 Ma) but even these are associated with high frequency events! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Order & Frequency of Stratigraphic Sequences – Traditional Causes • 1 st • 2 nd • 3 rd • 4 th 50+Ma 1 -50 Ma Continental Breakup Oceanic ridge spreading & Crustal cooling 1 -5 Ma P Glacial Eustasy P Tectonism P Sediment Loading. 08 - 1 Ma Milankovitch Cycles & Tectonism Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Order & Frequency of Stratigraphic Sequences – Traditional Causes • 1 st • 2 nd • 3 rd • 4 th 50+Ma 1 -50 Ma Continental Breakup Oceanic ridge spreading & Crustal cooling 1 -5 Ma P Glacial Eustasy P Tectonism P Sediment Loading. 08 - 1 Ma Milankovitch Cycles & Tectonism Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The Earth was one time like the Sun & was molten. Now we have a thin crust over the molten interior!! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Major Features of Earth’s Interior Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Mid-Oceanic Ridge Bulges Up S Transverse Fault Continental Margin Bulges Up S Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Expanding ocean evidenced by parallel ridges! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Convergent Margin evidenced by Trench & Volcanic Mountains Volcano Ocean Crust Trench Continental Crust Lithosphere Mantle Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Convergent Margin evidenced by Inter -Continental Mountains Continental Crust Lithosphere Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions! Mantle

150 Million years of Plate movement! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Major Plates of the Globe Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Transform Boundaries • Two plates slide past each other • Usually between mid-oceanic ridge segments – – Can also connect ridge and trench Or trench to trench • Origin of offset of ridges Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Transform Faults Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Fault Stress Release Drives High Frequency Accommodation • • • CLOETING STATES Stress builds up in continental margin in response to compression or extension At 3 rd order time intervals release of stress at faults causes local transgressions PROBLEM Stress release is expressed as earthquakes Magnitude 7 earthquakes release 1027 ergs of energy locally Only the signal can be detected at some distance away Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Order & Frequency of Stratigraphic Sequences – Traditional Causes • 1 st • 2 nd • 3 rd • 4 th 50+Ma 1 -50 Ma Continental Breakup Oceanic ridge spreading & Crustal cooling 1 -5 Ma P Glacial Eustasy P Tectonism P Sediment Loading. 08 - 1 Ma Milankovitch Cycles & Tectonism Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Order & Frequency of Stratigraphic Sequences – Traditional Causes • 1 st • 2 nd • 3 rd • 4 th 50+Ma 1 -50 Ma Continental Breakup Oceanic ridge spreading & Crustal cooling 1 -5 Ma P Glacial Eustasy P Tectonism P Sediment Loading. 08 - 1 Ma Milankovitch Cycles & Tectonism Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Sediment drives high frequency accommodation • • • GALLOWAY STATES Variations in sediment supply driven by tectonic uplift and continental erosion Uplift driven by flexural response to down dip loading of shelf margin and plate collision Accommodation results from thermal subsidence and third order flexure produced by sediment loading PROBLEM No explanation for global transgressions Thermal subsidence & variation in sediment supply are local Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The Hypothesis! “Now we have a chaos of theories of the most part conflicting. Some or all or none of them may be correct; partly or altogether. It is an area where imagination remains largely unfettered by the bonds of certainty. ” D. P. Geddis, 1954 From “An Analysis of the Kinsey Report on the Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Female” Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Stress Release at Plate Boundaries • • • HIGH FREQUENCY ACCOMMODATION MODEL Stress builds up in continental margin in response to compression or extension At 3 rd order time intervals release of stress at faults causes local transgressions when bolides collide! RESULTS Stress release is expressed as earthquakes Magnitude 7 earthquakes release 1027 ergs of energy locally Signal detected all over the Earth! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Energy of Impacts Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Extraterrestrial - High Frequency Accommodation • 20 km diameter Asteroids striking Earth at velocities exceeding 30 -40 km/sec will release 1032 -33 ergs (106 ergs times magnitude 7 earthquakes) • Energy of impact depresses the crust, causing it to undulate world wide. Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Large objects striking Earth in last century Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Meteor Crater Arizona Iron nickel meteorite struck 50, 000 years ago weighing several hundred tons at velocity of 40, 000 mph & explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT 1. 2 -kilometers wide (3/4 of a mile), 174 - meters deep (570 -feet) Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Frequency of Impacts • Impact large enough to create crater size of Meteor Crater occurs every 1000 to 2000 years somewhere on Earth • The chances of such an impact occurring this year is 1 in 1500, an uncomfortably large probability • The chances of being demolished by an impact are much smaller. – The area devastated around Meteor Crater was 800 -1500 km 2 - about 1000 km 2 – The surface area of Earth is 510 million km 2 – So chances of being destroyed is only about 1 in 500, 000. • Probability of any one being killed by a Meteor Crater-sized impact -- only 1 in 7. 5 billion. (after Chapman & Morrison) Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Most Impacts are Small • Hiroshima ‘A’ Bomb released 150 kilotons • 10 -metre diameter meteoric body has kinetic energy of about 100 kilotons – – – Detonates at altitude above 10 km Causes little or no damage on ground Alarm to witnesses as on 9 October 1997 in El Paso, Texas • Similar events are recorded by US surveillance satellites, one or two per month, with smaller Kiloton sized explosions happen every 1 to 10 days Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Iron Rich Meteorite – From Green Land Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Large Impacts On Earth • 120 impact craters for past 2 billion years cataloged • Diameters from 10’s of meters up to 200 km CRATER RECOGNITION IS LOW • Craters smaller than 20 km easily eroded • Asteroids tend to hit ocean MAJOR CRATERS • Sudbury, Ontario- shock metamorphism; & diameter of 200 km identify (Grieves, 1991) • Chicxulub, Mexico- Gravity & Magnedics identify 200 km crater; penetrated 15 km (Hidebrand et al. , 1991) • Veredfort, South Africa- 150 km in diameter (Spudis 1993) Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Chicxulub, Mexico - Gravity & Magnetics Identify 200 km crater - penetrated 15 km into earth (Hidebrand et al. , 1991) Product of 10 km diameter object! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Clearwater Lakes Quebec 32 Km & 22 Km Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Impacts recorded in sedimentary record? Grieve, 1991 Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Comet Colliding with Earth Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Impact Effect on Sea Level? Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The Hypothesis! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The Hypothesis! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The Hypothesis! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The Hypothesis! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Stress Release at Plate Boundaries • • • HIGH FREQUENCY ACCOMMODATION MODEL Stress builds up in continental margin in response to compression or extension At 3 rd order time intervals release of stress at faults causes local transgressions when bolides collide! RESULTS Stress release is expressed as earthquakes Magnitude 7 earthquakes release 1027 ergs of energy locally Signal detected all over the Earth! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Impacts Explain Global Events • Extensive marine transgressions • Organic rich shales • Climatic cooling • Major extinctions • Tectites • Iridium concentrations in shale • Magnetic field reversals Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Impact Associations • Impact craters • Shock metamorphism of sedimentary grains • Tsunamis’ • Ore deposits Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Potential For Collision (Shoemaker 1991) • Over 1000 objects over 1 km diameter in orbits which cross Earth • During next 100 million years, over 1000 impacts will produce craters 10 km diameter • 5 km diameter every 100, 000 years • 10 km diameter objects will produce 200+ km diameter craters every 4 million years • A 20 km diameter object will collide with Earth every 3 billion years • Between 1975 &1992, 136 explosions were detected in upper atmosphere from extraterrestrial objects over 1 km diameter in orbits crossing the Earth Midlands. Astronomy Club – • Rate of bombardment of. Collisions! Earth matches Moon

Evidence of Impacts • Numerous large impact craters occur on the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jovian Moons • Continue to form today – In 1178 Gervase of Canterbury believed to have observed a contemporary impact on Moon (Clube and Napier). – 7 th November 2005 Rob Suggs (NASA) observed another • Lunar multi-ring basins on the Moon exceed 3000 km Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters on Far Side of Moon Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters form on Moon today! On 7 th November 2005 Rob Suggs of NASA observed impact First night testing 10 inch telescope to monitor space strikes on Moon Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Historical Frequency of Craters forming on Moon Earth & Moon Form by Accretion Cataclysmic Bombardment Moon & Earth Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Crater Size on Moon Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions! Craters Far Side of Moon

Tycho Crater Moon Diameter 85 km Depth 4. 8 km Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters South Moon Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Copernicus - Crater on Moon Diameter - 107 Km Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters on Moon - Orientale Basin 3 rings - Inner Rook Mts, Outer Rook Mt s, & Cordillera Mts Diameter - 930 Km Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

irregularly shaped asteroid from asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Asteroid Ida! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Asteroid Ida Midlands. Astronomy Club – irregularly shaped asteroid from asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Collisions!

Craters on Eros Asteroid On Monday, 12 February 2001, the NEAR spacecraft touched down on asteroid Eros!. Midlands. Astronomy Club – Asteroid between Mars and Earth Collisions!

Craters on Mercury Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters on Mercury Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Hour Glass Craters on Mars Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters on Ganymede & Callisto Jupiter’s Moons Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions! Callisto

Craters on Jupiter’s Moon Europa Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters Jupiter’s Moon Io Volcanic! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Shoemaker Levy & Jupiter Hubble Image Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Shoemaker Levy & Jupiter Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Shoemaker Levy & Jupiter Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Shoemaker Levy & Jupiter Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Craters on Phoebe outermost Satellite of Saturn Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Crater on Mimas a Satellite of Saturn Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Potential For Collision During Lifetime • Win State lottery 1 in 5, 200, 000* • Killed by terrorists on an overseas trip 1 in 650, 000* • Killed by lighting 1 in 600, 000* • Asteroid impact on Earth 1 in 30, 000 • Killed in a plane 1 in 30, 000 • Killed by American in Baltimore 1 in 4, 000* • Dying in a car 1 in 75* Statistic compiled from *Baptist Hospital newspaper Columbia, SC, May 94 & Economist, Sept 11 -17, 93 Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Conclusions • ". . . when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. " Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four by Conan Doyle Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Conclusions • Extraterrestrial hypervelocity impacts cause some (but not all) 3 rd order rapid global transgression on Haq et al • Extraterrestrial hypervelocity impacts globally cause: – – – Climatic cooling Organic rich shales Major extinction Tectites Iridium concentrations in shale Global enigmatic tectonic events • Other mechanisms for 3 rd order onlap cycles are local & tectonically driven, but not global • Stratigraphic markers for global correlation & prediction) Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Hale-Bopp – Comet Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Halle – Comet? Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Halley’s - Comet Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

THE HYPOTHESIS! Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Comet Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Earth’s deep-ocean trenches Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Origin of 3 rd Order Global Accommodation • Global Variation in sea level – Eustasy • Sediment Loading Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Mantle Convection? Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!