Antarctic Blast Made Australia, Room For Dinosaurs

Agent Provocateur writes "Posted on the Science Daily site is a story from Ohio State University about a massive Antarctic blast that may have contributed to the Permian-Triassic extinction." From the article: "Its size and location -- in the Wilkes Land region of East Antarctica, south of Australia -- also suggest that it could have begun the breakup of the Gondwana supercontinent by creating the tectonic rift that pushed Australia northward. Scientists believe that the Permian-Triassic extinction paved the way for the dinosaurs to rise to prominence. The Wilkes Land 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 meteor is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes Land meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide -- four or five times wider."

Antarctic Blast Made Australia, Room For Dinosaurs

[talkingpaperclip]

"...the Wilkes Land meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide..."

Wow, I knew some dinosaurs were big, but I didn't realize they were that big!

more importantly

[MrSquirrel]

How did the dinosaurs get here? It is my theory that they rode in on that meteor, bringing with them the advanced technologies that our government is still unearthing today (Al Gore "invented" the internet by digging it up from an ancient dinosaurian city). Also, "rawr" I'm a dinosaur.

Re:Age of impact

[Anonymous Coward]

It's far easier to wait for global warming to melt the ice cap, and then drill from there.

1. Melt Ice caps.
2. Do research.
3. Profit!

Bullshit.

[EvilCabbage]

That's just what God wants you to think.

Re:more importantly

[orthogonal]

How did the dinosaurs get here? It is my theory that they rode in on that meteor, bringing with them the advanced technologies that our government is still unearthing today (Al Gore "invented" the internet by digging it up from an ancient dinosaurian city). Also, "rawr" I'm a dinosaur.

Mr. President, shouldn't you be working on a plan to get us out of Iraq, rather than posting on slashdot?

Re:Antarctic Blast Made Australia, Room For Dinosa

[ozmanjusri]

Wow, I knew some dinosaurs were big, but I didn't realize they were that big!

You know Clippy, that sort of non-sequiter was why we kicked you out of the Office help system. Don't make us do it again...

Obligatory Anime Reference.

[RoffleTheWaffle]

Well, I see that we've found Adam. Crap, now the world's going to end in the dumbest imaginable way and we're all going to melt.

Re:Obligatory Anime Reference.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not if Asuka dodges that fucking pseudospear of longinus instead of looking at it charmed

Thank you!

[Alsee]

The Chicxulub meteor is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes Land meteor could have been up to 30 miles wide -- four or five times wider.

Thank you for for adding that! Saved us all the trouble of pulling out slide rules to work out that ugly divison problem ourselves!

-

Re:hollywood disaster movies

[bladesjester]

"You can't destroy the Earth! That's where I keep all my stuff!!" - The Tick

Re:Obligatory Anime Reference.

[wh173b0y]

They found the geo-front [yahoo.com] too. We're Doomed!

Re:Prehistoric Math

[Tycho]

What about for small values of 30 or for large values of 6?

What about my Hummer theory?

[Tablizer]

My theory is trilobites grew large brains and built Hummers, which caused greenhouse gasses that killed a bunch of stuff, including themselves.