The stark surface of Earth's moon [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is pocked with large craters, records of a history of fierce bombardment by the solar system's formative debris. It may be difficult to imagine, but nearby planet Earth itself has endured [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] a similar cosmic pounding, though oceans, weathering, and geological activity have removed or hidden many of the telltale scars. For example, this false color image produced from seismic data shows a recently discovered ringed structure [
http://www.geologi.…] about 24 miles wide on the floor of the Barents Sea [
http://www.geologi.…html/location.html ]. It is most probably the result of the impact, roughly 150 million years ago, of a mile or so wide asteroid-like body. Estimates indicate [
http://www.geologi.…html/environ_cons.ht ml ] that the energy released in the impact could have [
http://impact.arc.n…] been as high as a million megatons of TNT, resulting in immense earthquakes and tidal waves. Drawing on Norse mythology [
http://www.ugcs.cal…], the crater has been aptly named [
http://www.islandia…] Mjølnir - Thor's hammer.
Explanation
The stark surface of Earth's moon [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is pocked with large craters, records of a history of fierce bombardment by the solar system's formative debris. It may be difficult to imagine, but nearby planet Earth itself has endured [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] a similar cosmic pounding, though oceans, weathering, and geological activity have removed or hidden many of the telltale scars. For example, this false color image produced from seismic data shows a recently discovered ringed structure [
http://www.geologi.…] about 24 miles wide on the floor of the Barents Sea [
http://www.geologi.…html/location.html ]. It is most probably the result of the impact, roughly 150 million years ago, of a mile or so wide asteroid-like body. Estimates indicate [
http://www.geologi.…html/environ_cons.ht ml ] that the energy released in the impact could have [
http://impact.arc.n…] been as high as a million megatons of TNT, resulting in immense earthquakes and tidal waves. Drawing on Norse mythology [
http://www.ugcs.cal…], the crater has been aptly named [
http://www.islandia…] Mjølnir - Thor's hammer.
Explanation
