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Will a large meteor cause an impact crater if it collides with earth?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
It would put a huge crater in the Earths crust, causing all the extra material to shoot up hundreds of miles into space. The Meteorite would cause a shock wave to go around the world in a matter of minutes. If it crashed into the ocean it would cause a tsunami thousands of feet high enough to to swallow up Manhattan without even trying. Soon the material that was just shot sideways would destroy anything in its path killing billions of people. Most to all of life would parish. Soon the material that was spread around the globe will cover the sun cooling the Earth. It will make it a nuclear winter for hundreds of years. Either way you'd die from either the meteor, or if you somehow survive you'll die from dehydration, starvation, disease, etc., during the winter.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThat depends on the size and on the speed, and on the composition of the object.
Some meteors travel at 130,000 MPH, or about 200,000 km/hour. At that speed, it doesn't take a whole lot of mass to cause a big boom. If the meteor - at this size, one might well call it a small asteroid - of about the size of a house were to impact the Earth's atmosphere, it would probably explode high in the atmosphere, causing little damage - like the one that exploded high above a city in Sumatra about a year ago.
If the impactor were substantially larger, it could cause a devastating explosion, as the one that exploded over Tunguska, Siberia in 1908, leveling several square miles of trees.
A bigger example probably hit western Canada about 14,000 years ago, triggering the Younger Dryas ice age and killing off the woolly mammoths - and all human inhabitants of North America.
There is an online calculator you can use to figure out what would happen if a large object struck the Earth, at the Impact Calculator link below.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoDepending on the size and if it does not land in the sea then yes it will
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Did a meteor hit Uranus and cause a crater?
Highly unlikely because Uranus is a gas giant and a meteor is so small.
How close can a meteor pass earth to cause damage?
Well, it depends on the size of the meteorite you're talking about. If you want to cause a small crater, then go anywhere from a few meters across to a small house in diameter. If you want to cause some minor effects, get something from the size of a large house to 150ft in diameter (Meteor Crater in Arizona.) If you want to cause some major effects to mass extinction, use a meteor the size of 1 mile to 20 miles in diameter or a comet. (One that killed the dinosaurs.) If you want to cause a cataclysmic explosion which can have a shock wave reach Earth's antipodal point, use something +60mi in diameter. (Shockwave goes all the way around the Earth.) If you want to completely destroy the Earth, use a asteroid the size of Venus or larger.
What is the percentage of an asteroid hitting earth in the next 100 years?
An asteroid or meteor that would cause climatic change, about 1 in 600,000 to 1 in 10,000,000.
Is there going to be a meteor shower today 2012?
You can see meteors on any clear night. There are several occasions throughout the year when there are meteor 'showers'. As you do not give a date we do not know when 'tonight' is. See the link below for a list of some dates for meteor showers.
How to beat a level 100 Palkia with spaicel rend Draco meteor and surf?
use a non dragon pokemon that can learn a fisical dragon attak!! that should do it. (please dont chose aerodactyl cause he is type rock!!!)
How do you determine if a crater is caused by an impact or volcano?
because if the crater goes towards its self then down it it due to volcano but impact crater is looks more spread out and u may see parts of the meteor or cause of impact marks around the crater
What kind of feature might be formed on Earth if a large meteorite reached its surface?
A large meteor strike on the earth might cause a crateron the surface. If it struck the water, it may leave a bit of a crater in the sea floor, depending on the size and velocity and composition of the meteor and the depth of the sea where it impacted. If it hit land, there'd be a big "dent" in the ground where the missle and the blast of impact gouged it out.
Did a meteor hit Uranus and cause a crater?
Highly unlikely because Uranus is a gas giant and a meteor is so small.
Can you mention any big pit caused by a meteor?
There is the famous crater in Arizona, known as Meteor Crater or Barringer Crater. It is not actually meteors that cause craters. Meteors are destroyed in the Earth's atmosphere. If they survive the Earth's atmosphere and then land on Earth, they are known as meteorites. So it is meteorites that actually cause craters.
When a meteor hits the Earth it may form this?
When a meteor hits the Earth, it may form a meteorite, a crater, or airburst. A meteorite is a piece of rock or metal that has fallen to Earth from space. MeteoriteOpens in a new window Meteorite A crater is a large, bowl-shaped depression in the ground that is formed when a meteor impacts the Earth. CraterOpens in a new window Crater An airburst is a phenomenon that occurs when a meteor explodes in the atmosphere before it reaches the ground. AirburstOpens in a new window Airburst The type of impact feature that is formed depends on the size and speed of the meteor, as well as the composition of the ground that it hits. Smaller meteors that hit the Earth at high speeds tend to vaporize completely, leaving no impact feature behind. Larger meteors that hit the Earth at slower speeds may form craters. The largest craters on Earth are thought to have been formed by asteroids, which are much larger than meteors. Airbursts are most likely to occur when a meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere at a very high speed. The heat generated by the meteor's passage through the atmosphere can cause it to explode before it reaches the ground. Airbursts can cause significant damage, but they do not typically leave any impact feature behind. The impact of a meteor on Earth can have a number of consequences, including: The formation of a crater or airburst The release of dust and debris into the atmosphere The potential for widespread damage or destruction The impact of a meteor on Earth is a rare event, but it is a potential hazard that should be taken into account.
What are the lines coming from the impact crater called?
The lines are cause by debris from the impact. They are called rays.
Will a large meteorite cause an impact crator when it collides with Earth?
If it is big enough, it might even smash and destroy Earth. If it is a smaller one, it will destroy humanity, but will make a crater. If it is a very small one, it will just fall in someone`s head, probably killing him.
What things cause rapid change the Earth's surface?
earthquaketornadoeshurricanesvolcanic eruptionstsunamilarge meteor impact
Where is a crater located?
A large depression in earth cause by impact of an asteroid or other object from space.
What state did a giant meteor land?
Giant meteors have hit the Earth many times. Probably the most destructive - so far - was Chicxulub which "may" have been the cause of the dinosaurs extinction.The most notable crater in the US is - not surprisingly - called meteor crater. Located in the Arizona desert, near Winslow.
What are two variables that could cause meteorites to form different sized craters?
There are a number of factors that determine the size and shape of a crater. The two most significant are the mass of the impactor, and the speed. Other influential factors would include the composition of the object (solid rock or more aggregate, like pebbles? Ice?) the shape of the object, and the composition of the impact site. If it is on dry land, it will be more likely to leave a visible crater, while a water or marshy impact site would be quickly erased. If a water impact, the depth of the water and the topography of the surrounding seas would be vastly important. A strike in a deep ocean basin might be relatively mild, while a water strike in the South China Sea or Gulf of Mexico, with the constricted water flow, might result in catastrophic tsunamis inundating the surrounding areas.
How would the impact of the meteor have affected the biosphere near the crater?
A meteor impact that's big enough to create a crater is likely to extinguish much or most of the biosphere at the impact site. In the 1908 Tunguska event, the impact didn't leave a crater, but the air burst did generate an explosion of "nuclear bomb" proportions, incinerating the landscape below and flattening trees for miles around. An impactor similar to the one that gouged out "Meteor Crater" near Winslow, AZ would likely have sterilized everything within a couple of miles, killed most animals within 5 miles, and devastated the area within 10 miles. Some plants and small animals might survive, but large animals would likely perish due to the utter disruption of the food chain. A really big impact would likely cause climatic changes, cooling the Earth by several degrees, because the dust and debris blasted into the stratosphere would have caused a significant fraction of the energy the Earth normally receives from the Sun to be reflected back into space. This, we believe, is what actually killed off the dinosaurs (and about 2/3 of all life on Earth) 65 million years ago.
