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Impact production of NO and reduced speciesIt has recently been suggested that a reported spike in seawater (87)Sr/(86)Sr at the K-T boundary is the signature of an impact-generated acid deluge. However, the amount of acid required is implausibly large. Some about 3 x 10 to the 15th power moles of Sr must be weathered from silicates to produce the inferred Sr spike. The amount of acid required is at least 100 and probably 1000 times greater. Production of 3 x 10 to the 18th power moles of NO is clearly untenable. The atmosphere presently contains only 1.4 x 10 to the 20th power moles of N-sub 2 and 3.8 x 10 to the 19th power moles of O sub 2 If the entire atmosphere were shocked to 2000 K and cooled within a second, the total NO produced would be about 3 x 10 to the 18th power moles. This is obviously unrealistic. A (still to short) cooling time of 10th to the 3rd power sec reduces NO production by an order of magnitude. In passing, we note that if the entire atmosphere had in fact been shocked to 2000 K, acid rain would have been the least of a dinosaur's problems. Acid rain as a mechanism poses poses other difficulties. Recently deposited carbonates would have been most susceptable to acid attack. The researchers' preferred explanation is simply increased continental erosion following ecological trauma, coupled with enchanced levels of CO-sub 2.
Document ID
19890012042
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Zahnle, K. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Kasting, J. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Sleep, N. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 5, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Global Catastrophes in Earth History: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Impacts, Volcanism, and Mass Mortality
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Accession Number
89N21413
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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