Tswaing Meteor Krater - Pretoria Soutpan

Ek dreig nou al vir jare om te gaan kyk hoe lyk een van die grootste natuur wonders in ons land - die Tswaing Meteor Krater- of ook bekend as Pretoria Soutpan.

Ons het vroegmiddag deurgery en toe ingegegaan by die park en het ook 'n fooi betaal om die 4x4 roete tot af in die krater te neem.

Eers bo gestop om af te kyk oor die krater:

En toe afgery tot onder:

Mahindra het homself mooi gedra en ek sou defnitief nie weer daar uitgekom het as die nie vir die 4x4 laestrek was nie.

So bietjie meer oor die krater.

.....The asteroid would have passed through the atmosphere in a matter of seconds, causing an explosion nearly a hundred times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast as it smashed into the Earth. The stony projectile, 30-50 meters in diameter, was vaporized by the blast which excavated a crater more than 100 meters deep and over a kilometer in diameter. Bedrock from near the impact would have been ejected and overturned out to a distance of several hundred meters (Click here to learn about Tswaing's geology).

The damage inflicted by the impact was similar to a nuclear bomb blast, but without 
ionizing radiation damage. The asteroid, bedrock, and any fauna or flora at ground 
zero would have been vaporized.   Based of comparisons to the calculated effects of the Barringer Meteorite Crater impact (a crater of nearly equal size), the explosive shockwave would have produced winds in excess of 1000 km/hr within 3 to 5 km of the impact (see effects map). These winds would have stripped away grass near the crater and flattened acacia and bush willow trees out to a radial distance of ~14 to 19 km.

    The impact shock wave would also have had severe effects on animals in the region. Dramatic differences in the internal vs. external pressure exerted on animal bodies within the shock wave would have caused hemorrhaging (internal bleeding) and edema. Animals would also have been injured by displacement, their bodies propelled a short distance by the high velocity winds.

Lees meer hier:  https://www.lpi.usra.edu…