Back to category: Science

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.

The Impact of Asteroids on Earth

Despite the geological appearance of Earth, it has been hit many times by asteroids. Most of these impacts occurred while the Earth was still forming. A major asteroid impact about 65 million years ago is said to have killed off the dinosaurs and most of the other life-forms living in that period. This impact was in the Yucatan Peninsula, about 200 miles west of Cancun.
The asteroid was about 10km in size, with the energy equivalent of more than 100 million megatons or 5 billion Hiroshima atomic bombs. The results are supposedly the end of the dinosaurs due to the cloud of dust that blocked the sun, the sudden drop in temperature, tsunamis, and other extreme changes in the environment. The same thing might happen once again if a similarly sized asteroid or comet should come in contact with the Earth.

This picture shows the paths of the tsunamis that would follow a water impact (noted by the star).
The possibility of this happening is not overly slim. A more recent impact is ...

Posted by: Asare Mabel

Limited version - please login or register to view the entire paper.