Volcanoes, Asteroids, and Everything

Richard Cronin

The Alvarez Hypothesis claims that the Great Extinctions were due to massive asteroid strikes which hurled debris into the stratosphere to block the Sun and cool the planet, such as the ash spewed out of stratovolcano Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 and the Mt. Tambora eruption in 1815 (the "year without a summer”). Unfortunately, the cooling effects from these known stratovolcanoes

lasted a few years at best. Even a massive asteroid strike on land wouldn’t produce ash which lingered in the stratosphere for decades and centuries. Moreover, the Chixulub asteroid strike, claimed to have caused the Cretaceous/ Tertiary Extinction (66 million years ago) fell into the waters off the Yucatán. The asteroid which is linked to the Permian/ Triassic Extinction (252 million years ago) fell in the waters off Western Australia and formed Bedout Island. Devastating tsunamis, yes indeed, but no dust.

The Alvarez Hypothesis is based upon a thin layer of Iridium found around the world, laid down at the time of the Extinction(s). Iridium is very heavy and very little exists in the Lithosphere or Upper Mantle. Upon planetary formation, almost all Iridium stratified in the Lower Mantle. Therefore, it was thought that the asteroid delivered the Iridium.

Dr. Gerta Keller’s Hypothesis for the Great Extinctions is periods of extensive vulcanism. Mantle plume volcanoes extend deep into the Lower Mantle to bring up Iridium ("Plate Climatology”, J.E. Kamis, 2019). Such continuous vulcanism certainly would have produced ash, plus Sulfur Dioxide and other acidic sulfates. SO2 is heavier than air, suffocating lowland dinosaurs and causing widespread defoliation. Ocean waters acidified from submarine volcanoes and hydrothermal vents spewing out acids, thereby causing the marine extinctions. Continuous ash blocked the Sun for extended periods. Winged dinosaurs and early mammals could fly or climb above the clouds of SO2.

Lignite coal (soft coal, brown coal) is 65 to 70 % carbon and contains much moisture. Lignite is the only true "fossil fuel” and was cooked up from peat bogs (25 to 35 % carbon). Fern leaves have been found in lignite coal. These peat bogs which yielded lignite deposits were laid down around 60 million years ago. It seems curious that bogs wouldn’t just remain as bogs as long as there was rain. However, buried with pyroclastic ash would allow the peat to cook down to lignite. This occurred during the Cretaceous/ Tertiary Extinction. Entire forests have been found near Pompeii which were encased in pyroclastic ash and cooked down into coal.

I would offer that the asteroid strike initiated the extensive vulcanism.

The Chixulub impact was at 21 degrees North latitude and 89 degrees West longitude. The Deccan Traps were a location of significant vulcanism during the Cretaceous/ Tertiary Extinction. The Deccan Traps are located at 17 - 24 degrees North latitude and 73 - 74 degrees East longitude. Approx. a straight line of latitude from the asteroid impact to the point of land-based vulcanism, on the opposite side of the world.

The Bedout impact was at 18 South latitude and 118 East longitude. The Siberian Traps are a region of vulcanism associated with the Permian/ Triassic Extinction. These Traps are located 50 - 75 degrees North latitude and 60 - 120 degrees East longitude. Approx. a straight line of longitude from the asteroid impact to the land-based vulcanism, nearly on the opposite side of the globe.

Pretty much like getting a concussion. A knock on the head on one side and the brain slams against the other side.

Today, the Deccan Traps and Siberian Traps are sites of significant hydrocarbon reservoirs. The very term "trap” is used by Petrologists to describe a location where petroleum reserviors have formed. Basaltic overlays from volcanoes provided a suitable containment. This "trapping” allows the residence time for Fischer-Tropsch Reactions (methanation of CO) and Sabatier Reactions (methanation of CO2) to proceed and build out the longer chain hydrocarbons. These are the prominent points of abiogenic oil. Left to dwell further the oil cools down to bitumen, tars, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, and then anthracite (86 to 95 % carbon).

Now after all that trouble to get oil and gas can we just fill up the SUV and drive over to gramma’s for Thanksgiving ?

Peter Hatgelakas adds:

The Cretaceous Extinction is marked by an Iridium layer, I did not know that it was accompanied by Rubidium also. You are probably right. Every oil field I know of has evidence of biogenetic origin including presence of amino acids fingerprinting the living organism source. (Doug Wapples ). I would love to find evidence for abiogenesis. It would answer bothersome questions about Titan and inclusions of amino acids in meteoric rocks. I believe in order to accomplish abiotic oil and tar formations in the Earth, that some sort of surface catalyst reaction would be a part of the chemical process. F-T reaction as you mentioned too. Being an explorationist,

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