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Global blackout following the K/T Chicxulub impact: Results of impact and atmospheric modelingSeveral recent studies have suggested that shock decomposition of anhydrite (CaSO4) target rocks during the K/T Chicxulub impact would have ejected tremendous amounts of sulfur gas into the stratosphere. One of the many potential biospheric effects of this sulfur gas is the generation of a sulfuric acid (H2SO4) aerosol layer capable of causing darkness and severe disruption of photosynthesis for periods of years. In this paper we report the preliminary results of our modeling of shock pressures within the anhydrites and of light attenuation by the H2SO4 aerosol cloud. These models indicate that earlier studies over-estimated the amount of sulfur gas produced, but that more than enough was produced to extend global blackout conditions 4-6 times longer than the approximately 3 month predictions for silicate dust alone.
Document ID
19940016225
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Pope, K. O.
(Geo Eco Arc Research La Canada, CA, United States)
Ocampo, A. C.
(Jet Propulsion Lab. California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena., United States)
Baines, K. H.
(Jet Propulsion Lab. California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena., United States)
Ivanov, B. A.
(Academy of Sciences USSR, Moscow., United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Accession Number
94N20698
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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