Chicxulub: The Impact and Tsunami by David Shonting & Cathy Ezrailson

Author:David Shonting & Cathy Ezrailson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

The explosion’s energy was estimated at 21 Kilotons (Kt): compared to that of the 14 Kt blast at Hiroshima (Rhodes 1986). The bomb set at ~27 m in depth, blew a giant hole in the lagoon floor, while ejecting several million tons of seawater and reef material into the air. The huge white mushroom cloud (as pictured) was formed from condensed water vapor, propelling outward at several km/s from the searing center of the blast. The dark line on the water suggests the signature of the spreading atmospheric P wave. Above the steam cloud, the mix of hot seawater and reef material is still accelerating upward, forming an edifice ~2–3 km in height and ~600 m across. Beneath the vapor cloud, the vertical cylinder (stem) of heaviest ejecta can be seen starting its downward plunge back into the sea. At the base of the blast, a ~30 m high crest of a mini-tsunami formed among the moored test ships (the largest of which were up to 150 m in length). The shallow water of the lagoon absorbed much of the waves energies, although 2–3 m heights were observed ~7 km seaward from the blast site.

As dramatic as it appears, the energy of the Bikini explosion of ~800,000 (8 × 105) J would have been only comparable to that produced by an impact of a ~20 m diameter asteroid. We leave it to the reader to visualize an ocean splash produced by the 1.1 km (1100 m) 1950DA asteroid, with a mass ~200,000 times greater. Or, the really unthinkable event produced by a 10 km Chicxulub—with mass 100 million times greater.

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