Washington, Oct 20 (ANI): Researchers have come out with a new model to gain a deeper insight into the level of destruction a giant meteorite striking the Earth can cause.
The new model, developed by Princeton University researchers can not only more accurately simulate the seismic fallout of such an impact, but also help reveal new information about the surface and interior of planets based on past collisions.
The researchers created the first model to take into account Earth's elliptical shape, surface features and ocean depths in simulations of how seismic waves generated by a meteorite collision would spread across and within the planet.
Current projections rely on models of a featureless spherical world with nothing to disrupt the meteorite's impact, the researchers report in the October issue of Geophysical Journal International.
The researchers simulated the meteorite strike that caused the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, an impact 2 million times more powerful than a hydrogen bomb that many scientists believe triggered the mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
The team's rendering of the planet showed that the impact's seismic waves would be scattered and unfocused, resulting in less severe ground displacement, tsunamis, and seismic and volcanic activity than previously theorized.
"We have developed the first model to account for how Earth's surfaceeatures and shape would influence the spread of seismic activityollowing a meteorite impact," Lead author Matthias Meschede of the University of Munich who developed the model at Princeton through the University's Visiting Student Research Collaborators program, said.
"For the Earth, these calculations are usually made using a smooth, perfect sphere model, but we found that the surface features of a planet or a moon have a huge effect on the aftershock a large meteorite will have, so it's extremely important to take those into account." (ANI)
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