Bible story of Sodom revisited. Was it a meteor strike? (earthsky.org) {old news, but interesting}

[eppur_se_muova]

Posted by EarthSky Voices
September 22, 2021

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. This article was co-authored by research collaborators archaeologist Phil Silvia, geophysicist Allen West, geologist Ted Bunch and space physicist Malcolm Lecompte. {I have linked to earthsky.org because the pix from the original article are no longer showing up}

By Christopher R. Moore, University of South Carolina
Bible story of Sodom?

On an ordinary day some 3,600 years ago, the inhabitants of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam [now identified with the Biblical city of Sodom] went about their daily business. They had no idea an unseen icy space rock was speeding toward them at about 38,000 mph (61,000 kph).

Flashing through the atmosphere, the rock exploded in a massive fireball about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the ground. The blast was around 1,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The shocked city dwellers who stared at it were blinded instantly. Air temperatures rapidly rose above 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius). Clothing and wood immediately burst into flames. Swords, spears, mudbricks and pottery began to melt. Almost immediately, the entire city was on fire.

Some seconds later, a massive shockwave smashed into the city. Moving at about 740 mph (1,200 kph), it was more powerful than the worst tornado ever recorded. The deadly winds ripped through the city, demolishing every building. They sheared off the top 40 feet (12 m) of the 4-story palace and blew the jumbled debris into the next valley. None of the 8,000 people or any animals within the city survived – their bodies were torn apart and their bones blasted into small fragments.

About a minute later, 14 miles (22 km) to the west of Tall el-Hammam, winds from the blast hit the biblical city of Jericho. Jericho’s walls came tumbling down and the city burned to the ground.
***
Getting answers required nearly 15 years of painstaking excavations by hundreds of people. It also involved detailed analyses of excavated material by more than two dozen scientists in 10 states in the U.S., as well as Canada and the Czech Republic. When our group finally published the evidence recently in the journal Scientific Reports, the 21 co-authors included archaeologists, geologists, geochemists, geomorphologists, mineralogists, paleobotanists, sedimentologists, cosmic-impact experts and medical doctors.

Here’s how we built up this picture of devastation in the past.
***
more: https://earthsky.org/human-world/bible-story-of-sodom-meteor-strike/?utm_source=EarthSky+News

https://theconversation.com/a-giant-space-rock-demolished-an-ancient-middle-eastern-city-and-everyone-in-it-possibly-inspiring-the-biblical-story-of-sodom-167678

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60867-w (an earlier impact event)

[Jim__]

1. Physicists propose a new method for defending the Earth against cosmic impacts

Sort of along similar lines, this article was in phys.org about a week ago.

...

In two papers on the topic of terminal planetary defense submitted to the journal Advances in Space Research, accompanied by an opinion piece published in Scientific American, Lubin and co-researcher Alexander Cohen lay out a more proactive method for dealing with dangerous extraterrestrial space debris. The project is called PI, which affectionately stands for Pulverize It.

...

"While we often say that nothing in life is certain but death and taxes, we can certainly also add human extinction to this list," Lubin said. "There is a large asteroid or comet lurking in our solar system with 'Earth' written on it. We just do not know where it is or when it will hit."

In the last 113 years, the Earth has been hit by two large asteroids that could have threatened the lives of millions, had they struck over a major city. However, humanity was lucky. In light of this very real threat, it is time to seriously plan for and execute a planetary defense program, the researchers say. PI allows for a logical and cost-effective approach to the ultimate environmental protection program.

...

Key to the PI strategy is the deployment of an array of penetrator rods, possibly filled with explosives, laid in the path of the asteroid to "slice and dice" the threatening object. The penetrator rods—about 4-12 inches (10-30 cm) in diameter and six to ten feet long—fragment the asteroid or comet nucleus as it crashes into them at extreme speed.

more ...

[Bayard]

2. So much for that smiting business....

[Beartracks]

3. The Lord smites in mysterious ways.

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[Javaman]

4. ...