The
Cape Verde Islands Meteor Impact
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The
Cape Verde Islands are an island group in the Atlantic Ocean located
about 800 kilometers ( 500 miles ) West of Senagal and Mauritania in
Northwest Africa. The islands are the upper tips of an ancient meteor
impact crater of about 340 kilometes (214 miles) in diameter. The
meteor came in from the Northwest.
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1260 km east from the center of impact, and inland 410 km from the
coast of Africa, there is an interesting formation. This formation
appears very similar to what a person would see on a beach after the
high tide receded. I believe this to be the high water mark of the
tsunami from the Cape Verde Meteor Impact. The land elevations to the
East and West of the formation are about 160 feet above sea level,
while the formation rises to 250 feet above sea level. A tsunami of
more
that 250 feet high could have pushed this loose soil and debris this
far inland to make this formation. The dam and lake are on the Gorgol
River in Mauritania. |
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From depths of 15,000 to
16,000 feet, the mid
Atlantic Ridge rises to less that 10,000 feet in depth. This is a
mountain range on the ocean floor. This impact cracked the floor of the
Atlantic Ocean and this allows the lava to flow both East
and West along this line.
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While the Cape Verde Impact caused a really big splash, the main event
was when it hit the ground. When a meteor hits the ground, the force of
it's mass and high velocity are changed to seismic waves that move
across the surface and through the interior of the Earth. The two main
types of waves are surface waves and pressure waves. The surface waves
travel in expanding
circles adross the surface of the Earth, similar to ocean waves. The
pressure waves move through the body of the Earth and bounce around
inside. These waves move at different speeds and sometimes the two
waves come together, combining their forces.
When that happens the crust of the Earth can
be broken forming tremendous rifts in the surface of the Earth. This is
the cause of the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The Pacific Ring of Fire can be
shown as other examples. While this meteor impact caused the Mid
Atlantic Ridge, it also caused many other geographic formations around
the Earth. These formations mark the expanding circles of the surface
waves.
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Another
interesting observation from this impact is that at times the the
seismic waves of the impact
formed perfectly alligning formations to occure one after another as
the wave rolled across the land. In the above image, with an
effective altitude of about 1100 miles (1,770 km) of the Andes
Mountains in Peru, the blue dots mark some of these formations.Others
may be noted by closely studying the image. Many others can be seen
from a closer examination of the area.
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In
the Southern Ocean this seismic circle crosses the center of the
American
Antarctic Ridge (North - Weddell Ridge) for over 1,800 miles, nearly
3,000 km, as it circles the Earth. This circle is 8,345 km (5,185
miles) radius from the center of impact in the Cape Verde Islands.
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At
16,720 km (10,390 miles) from the center of impact, the seismic circle
cuts a fine line through New Zealand. The arrows note some of the more
prominant features through the islands.
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The kmz
file for the Cape Verde Impact is HERE It shows 26 seismic circles
and the major formations that demonstrate each circle. This
file will open in Google Earth. If you do not have Google Earth, get
it here.
Once
loaded into Google Earth, expand the kmz file in the left hand column
by clicking the arrow to the left of the file, then expand each circle
by clicking the
arrow to the left of the circle name. A number of placemarks will
appear below each circle name. By clicking each placemark, you will be
taken to that geographic formation which describes the circle. We are
looking for
formations of many kinds that closely follow the circle line. Should
you wish, you can zoom in from there to examine the formations more
closely. This
kmz file only describes the most obvious formations. By following the
circles closely, you may find many more, and you may find other circles
as well. |
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©
2021 Terry Westerman |
