Eustasy&Bolides

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 (after
• Asteroid Impact - 1 in 25,000
Chapman
• Flood - 1 in 30,000
• Tornado -- 1 in 60,000 & Morrison)
• Venomous bite or sting - 1 in 100,000
• Fireworks accident - 1 in 1 million
• Food Poisoning - 1 in 3 million
Objects in space collide with Earth!

Shoemaker Levy 9 Comet
Impacts cause a beat in sedimentary
record?
The stratigraphic record

divided into repeated sequences
bounded by erosional events
or unconformities.

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?

Beat of Sea Level change in
sedimentary record?
The stratigraphic record

divided into repeated sequences
bounded by erosional events
or unconformities.

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

& Crustal cooling
Tectonism
Tectonism

Glacial/Eustatic Model – Problem
3RD ORDER GEOLOGIC PERIODS WHEN

GLACIAL/EUSTATIC SIGNALS ARE RECOGNIZED :
• Pleistocene and Late Tertiary
• Pennsylvanian and Permian
• Ordovician
• Precambrian

Precession
Wobble
-
Tilt
From Plane
-
Eccentric Path of
Earth Around Sun
Coastlines – Ice Melts & Ice Sheet

Glaciation
in
Permian

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

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

& Crustal cooling
Tectonism
Tectonism

& Crustal cooling
Tectonism
Tectonism

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

Major Features of Earth’s Interior

Mid-Oceanic Ridge
Bulges Up 
Transverse Fault
Continental Margin
Bulges Up 

Expanding ocean evidenced by
parallel ridges!

Convergent Margin evidenced by
Trench & Volcanic Mountains
Volcano
Continental Crust
Ocean Crust Lithosphere
Trench Mantle

Convergent Margin evidenced by
Inter-Continental Mountains
Continental Crust
Lithosphere
Mantle
150 Million years of Plate movement!

Major Plates of the Globe

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

Transform Faults

Fault Stress Release Drives High
Frequency Accommodation
CLOETING STATES
• Stress builds up in continental margin in response to
compression or extension
• At 3rd 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

& Crustal cooling
Tectonism
Tectonism

& Crustal cooling
Tectonism
Tectonism

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

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”
Stress Release at Plate Boundaries
HIGH FREQUENCY ACCOMMODATION MODEL

• At 3rd order time intervals release of stress at faults
causes local transgressions when bolides collide!
RESULTS
• Magnitude 7 earthquakes release 1027 ergs of energy
locally
• Signal detected all over the Earth!

Energy
of
Impacts

Extraterrestrial - High Frequency
Accommodation
• 20 km diameter Asteroids striking Earth at

velocities exceeding 30-40km/sec will
release 1032-33 ergs (106ergs times
magnitude 7 earthquakes)
• Energy of impact depresses the crust,
causing it to undulate world wide.

Large objects
striking Earth
in last century

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)

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 km2 -
about 1000 km2
– The surface area of Earth is 510 million km2
– 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)

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

Iron Rich Meteorite – From Green Land

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 20km easily eroded
• Asteroids tend to hit ocean
MAJOR CRATERS
• Sudbury, Ontario- shock metamorphism; & diameter of
200km identify (Grieves, 1991)
• Chicxulub, Mexico- Gravity & Magnedics identify 200km
crater; penetrated 15 km (Hidebrand et al.,1991)
• Veredfort, South Africa- 150km in diameter (Spudis 1993)

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

Clearwater Lakes Quebec
32 Km & 22 Km
Impacts
recorded
in
sedimentary
record?
Grieve,1991

Comet Colliding
with Earth

Impact Effect on Sea Level?
The Hypothesis!

The Hypothesis!

The Hypothesis!

The Hypothesis!

Stress Release at Plate Boundaries
HIGH FREQUENCY ACCOMMODATION MODEL

• At 3rd order time intervals release of stress at faults
causes local transgressions when bolides collide!
RESULTS
• Magnitude 7 earthquakes release 1027 ergs of energy
locally
• Signal detected all over the Earth!

Impacts Explain Global Events
• Extensive marine transgressions

• Organic rich shales
• Climatic cooling
• Major extinctions
• Tectites
• Iridium concentrations in shale
• Magnetic field reversals

Impact Associations
• Impact craters
• Shock metamorphism of sedimentary grains
• Tsunamis’
• Ore deposits

Potential For Collision (Shoemaker 1991)
• Over 1000 objects over 1km diameter in orbits which

cross Earth
• During next 100 million years, over 1000 impacts will
produce craters 10km 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
• Rate of bombardment of 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).
– 7th November 2005 Rob Suggs (NASA) observed another
• Lunar multi-ring basins on the Moon exceed 3000km

Craters on Far
Side of Moon

Craters form on Moon today!
On 7th November 2005

Rob Suggs of NASA
observed impact
First night testing 10-
inch telescope to
monitor space strikes
on Moon
Historical Frequency of Craters
forming on Moon
Earth & Moon Form by Accretion
Cataclysmic Bombardment
Moon & Earth

Crater Size on Moon

Craters Far Side of Moon
Tycho
Crater
Moon
Diameter 85 km
Depth 4.8 km
Diameter 85 km
Depth 4.8 km
Craters
South
Moon

Copernicus - Crater on Moon
Diameter - 107 Km

Craters on Moon - Orientale Basin
3 rings - Inner Rook Mts, Outer Rook Mt s, & Cordillera Mts
Diameter - 930 Km
irregularly shaped asteroid from asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
Asteroid Ida!
Asteroid Ida
irregularly shaped asteroid fromAstronomy

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

Craters on
Mercury

Craters on Mercury

Hour Glass Craters on Mars

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

Craters
Jupiter’s
Moon
Io
-
Volcanic!

Shoemaker Levy & Jupiter
Hubble Image

Shoemaker
Levy & Jupiter


Craters on
Phoebe
outermost
Satellite of
Saturn

Crater
on
Mimas
a
Satellite
of
Saturn

Potential For Collision During Lifetime
• Win State lottery 1 in 5,200,000*

• Killed by terrorists on an overseas trip1 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

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

Conclusions
• Extraterrestrial hypervelocity impacts cause some (but

not all) 3rd 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 3rd order onlap cycles are local &
tectonically driven, but not global
• Stratigraphic markers for global correlation & prediction)

Hale-Bopp – Comet

Halle – Comet?

Halley’s - Comet

THE HYPOTHESIS!

Comet
Earth’s deep-ocean trenches

Origin of 3rd Order Global Accommodation
• Global Variation in sea level – Eustasy

• Sediment Loading

Mantle Convection?

Eustasy&amp;Bolides

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Enigma of Cyclic Character

Sedimentary Record of Earth

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• Motor Vehicle Accident - 1 in 100

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The stratigraphic record

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

The stratigraphic record

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

3RD ORDER GEOLOGIC PERIODS WHEN

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• Two plates slide past each other

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

“Now we have a chaos of theories of the most

HIGH FREQUENCY ACCOMMODATION MODEL

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• 20 km diameter Asteroids striking Earth at

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Iron nickel meteorite struck 50,000 years ago weighing

1.2-kilometers wide (3/4 of a mile), 174- meters deep (570-feet)

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• Impact large enough to create crater size of Meteor Crater

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• 120 impact craters for past 2 billion years cataloged

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

HIGH FREQUENCY ACCOMMODATION MODEL

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• Extensive marine transgressions

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

Midlands. Astronomy Club – Collisions!

• Over 1000 objects over 1km diameter in orbits which

• Numerous large impact craters occur on the Moon,

Eustasy&Bolides

Eustasy&Bolides