Panther Mountain (New York): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:21, 18 February 2007

Revision as of 21:16, 6 April 2007

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However, questions from crater specialists at a [[conference]] in [[Budapest]] sent him back to look more deliberately through the cuttings. The attendees pointed out that he hadn't ruled out the possibility that the spherules had merely been deposited by a passing meteorite or [[comet]]. In October 1999, closer examination of tiny [[quartz]] crystals in the samples turned up shock [[lamellae (materials)|lamellae]], which could only have resulted from impact. A group of [[Canada|Canadian]] specialists confirmed the finding.<ref name="Discover" />

The impact is estimated to have occurred 375 million years ago, during the [[Devonian]] period, when much of what is now the Catskills was either river [[river delta]] or a shallow sea. The crater lies 2,640 feet (800 m) below the surface, 6 miles (10 km) wide, directly under the mountain. The meteor that struck is believed to have been roughly one-half mile (1 km) wide, striking with a force equivalent to 11 trillion tons (9.9 trillion tonnes) of [[TNT]].<ref name="Discover" />

Isachsen believes it is possible that there may be significant [[hydrocarbon]] deposits, often a side effect of ancient crater impacts, very deep beneath the mountain.<ref name="Discover" />