Theory of super massive volcanoes

[Popcorn Sutton]

Super massive volcanoes might actually be a crater from an impact. You might even be able to see an elevated region on the opposite side of the planet which would verify this claim.

[Mellinia]

You might need to state the iridium levels of the soil around the volcano to reassert your claim.

[Popcorn Sutton]

It seems that the iridium, if it is as solid as they make it sound, would be pushed deeper through the crust, and if that were the case, you would be lucky to find even a gram of it near the crater of a massive volcanoe. It would probably continue travelling through the crust for a while. The point I was trying to make is that if you take a pebble and blast it into water, the water comes back up and looks like a volcanoe. Substitute the rock for a super solid object and substitute the water for the earths crust and you should get the same effect.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Popcorn Sutton

[Ophiolite]

If your hypothesis is correct how do you explain the absence of coesite and stishovite from rocks in the supervolano? How do you explain the absence of impact breccias? How do you explain the absence of an ejecta blanket? How do you explain of an impact structure? In short, how do you explain the absence of all the key pieces of evidence that support an impact hypothesis?

[Mellinia]

It seems that the iridium, if it is as solid as they make it sound, would be pushed deeper through the crust, and if that were the case, you would be lucky to find even a gram of it near the crater of a massive volcanoe. It would probably continue travelling through the crust for a while. The point I was trying to make is that if you take a pebble and blast it into water, the water comes back up and looks like a volcanoe. Substitute the rock for a super solid object and substitute the water for the earths crust and you should get the same effect.

Ever squirted a pimple?

As Ophiolite said, something that looks like a crater, does not mean that it is a crater. The chemical composition of the rocks and soil around the volcano should match.

[rwjefferson]

What happens when the nuclear core of an imactor sinks deep enough to reach critical mass?

ron

[Popcorn Sutton]

It gets reduced, it merges, and/or it gets repelled.

[Ophiolite]

Popcorn, is it your intention to ignore my questions in post #4? If you do not intend to address thos questions will you acknowledge that your hypothesis is flawed?

[Popcorn Sutton]

Ophiolite, I haven't defined your specifics yet, but if my hypothesis is correct, then the object that impacted was just too solid to leave a trace, figuratively speaking. I will try to address the specifics asap though

[Popcorn Sutton]

Ok so coesite and stishovite occur under high pressure. An impact of the type I'm talking about would make rock act like water... but not entirely like water. Imagine watching a super solid object impact the ground in front of you at the speed of a bullet and it only has about a 50 foot diameter. It would create a hole in the ground, and if you dug it up, you would probably find the coesite and stishovite beneath the point of impact mostly, maybe very small traces around the parameter. But, if it were going c max, it would completely penetrate the crust and there would be very small traces of these elements. Plus, the magma might melt then or cause them to combust on it's way up. An impact like this probably wouldn't be devastating though. It would be like taking a bullet through the earth.

[Ophiolite]

Your speculation is so vague that demonstrating its invalidity is almost impossible (and pretty pointless).

 

However, in order for any object to penetrate solid rock, that rock must be compressed. With the velocities and dimensions you are speaking of compression waves will spread out from the point of impact and coesite and stishovite must be formed. These have routinely been found at impact structures, therefore you must account for their absence in the environs of a supervolcano. So far you have failed to do so.

 

You mistakenly believe that the quantity of these minerals that is present are dependent upon the depth to which the impactor penetrates. This is not the case. The quantity is dependent on the mass and velocity of the impactor. Since you are postulating a high velocity the quantity of these minerals will be correspondingly higher.

 

The magma rises through discrete channels, leaving the bulk of the country rock (which contains the coesite and stishovite) intact. Therefore the magma will not be able to melt these minerals. Neither coesite or stishovite are combustible and even if they were no free oxygen would be present in the bedrock to support such combustion.

 

I made no comments on the devastation or otherwise caused by such a hypothetical impact, so your remarks that it would not need to be devastating is irrelevant.

 

In summary, your idea remains clearly refuted by the absence of coesite and stishovite around supervolcanoes. Please note that there are many other reasons why the idea is baseless, but most would require a more complex explanation. I recommend you abandon the speculation and view its value as having introduced you to the concept of mineraogical changes in impact events.

[Popcorn Sutton]

Thank you for your input Ophiolite. I see what youre saying and I concede. Thank you for introducing me to minerology.

[Popcorn Sutton]

Although! There is another possibility... What if it was actually the remnants of something like a gamma ray burst?

[Ophiolite]

Although! There is another possibility... What if it was actually the remnants of something like a gamma ray burst?

Why stop there? What if these are not supervolcanoes, but sites where embryonic planets are flung from Mother Earth in a catclysmic birth? Or, the penetration points of the horns of vast, planetary mass space unicorns?

 

I mean, get real! Please suggest how a gamma ray burst would produce any of the observed features of a supervolcano and, at the same time, explain why such an effect would be localised.

 

Popcorn, your interest in science is apparent. Your ability to think imaginatively is clear. What is lacking is any critical thinking. Ask the questions, by all means, but you should be able to answer these yourself - and thus far, it seems, the answers will be in the negative.

[Popcorn Sutton]

No ophiolite, the questions are asked regardless of having the answer. I could google the answer if I knew the right vocabulary.

 

To make a long story short, here is my rough draft for an academic paper on this topic. Please help me revise and edit before I submit it.

 

The leprechauns push on an object at c. The object is continuous depending in it's length, so it's an infinite push (or the closest thing to it), its kinetic energy is strong because of the sheer number of particles, while the kinetic energy of any single zero point in the ray is very small. So under these circumstances, would the leprechauns be applying enough force to create coesite and stishovite? It's a different type of mass.