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Re: Bernd: Meteor May Not Have Destroyed Dinosaurs Afterall?

I don't really want to add more fuel to the fire but, again, it is the
details that count.

You cannot really compare the distribution or particles from volcanoes,
forest fires, rocket experiments, etc, to the aftermath of a giant impact
because the scaling is wrong. When we start talking about giant impacts,
such as the K-T event, then it is probable that the atmosphere would lose
its structure, at least temporarily, because of the input of energy.

I think it was Julia who said that the dust would be ejected above the
weather layer (troposphere) and so would not be rained out. In fact, the
troposphere, and the other layers, would experience considerable disruption.
Couple this with the fact that you have substantial amounts of dust and
water vapour and you begin to realize that the situation is highly complex.

Take the water vapour, for example. The vapour would not suddenly turn to
rain and fall. Vapour must have something to condense onto. In this case the
dust would act as condensation nuclei and would fall with the rain. Now
there are complications with this because the crystalline structure of the
dust would have to be compatible with that of ice, so not all the dust would
fall - no pun intended - into this category.

There may well have been a large amount of dust suspended for some time -
though I doubt years - but that is only half the story. You have to take
into account the properties of the dust - size, shape, composition - and how
efficient is was at blocking, reflecting, absorbing and re-radiating energy
(light, heat, UV, etc) from the sun.

I'm bored with this now......how many people think Mars is the largest
asteroid and not really a planet?

Have fun!

Phil Bagnall
www.ticetboo.demon.co.uk




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