Megarippled Louisiana? New Proof Says Dino-Killing Rock Did It
If you know anything at all about me, you should know that I am a giant nerd. Not just in the "I've seen all of the Star Wars movies, and read all of the books" type of way either (although I have done that). One of my absolute favorite things to do on vacation is to check out the geology of the area I am in. If you know what you are looking for, the rocks on our planet are literally a history book! Just like rings in a tree trunk give away its age, the geological make up of a given area will tell you just about everything about its natural past.
Some real pros in the geology game recently made an amazing discovery right here in Louisiana that dates back to the death of the dinosaurs! 66 million years ago, experts agree that a huge comet named Chicxulub smashed into the Gulf of Mexico just beyond the shore of what we now call Mexico with the power of 921 billion Hiroshima A-bombs. That event caused a cataclysm that brought the age of the dinosaurs to an abrupt stop.
The impact didn't just kill off all of the big lizards, it also took out close to 75% off all life on earth! When it hit, it threw so much debris in to the atmosphere it blotted out the sun for years - effectively throwing the earth into a nuclear winter type of situation. The concussive force generated from violent crash created another catastrophe - a mile-high tsunami.
According to Science Times, University of Louisiana's geophysicist Gary Kinsland has been pouring over seismic imaging data collected by Devon Energy in central Louisiana 10 years ago. The data provided evidence of "megaripples" formed when the massive tidal wave slammed into our state. Both the initial wave and the subsequent pulses of seawater pounding so far inland left a permanent mark on the geology. Over the millions and millions of years that would pass before humans would set foot here, sediment would cover and smooth out these ripples until they could no longer be seen with the naked eye - but they are still there.
Just to give you a scale of the power applied here - these fossilized megaripples are about 3 quarters of a mile apart and more than 51 feet tall!