Xiaolei Zhang. On a Possible Giant Impact Origin for the Colorado Plateau
Natural Sciences / Earth Sciences / Geology
Submitted on: Nov 08, 2017, 22:02:26
Description: It is proposed and substantiated that an extraterrestrial object of the approximate size and mass of Planet Mars, impacting the Earth in an oblique angle around 750 million years ago (750 Ma), is likely to be the direct cause for the rifting of the Rodinia supercontinent and the severing of the foundation of the Colorado Plateau from its surrounding craton.
It is further argued that the impactor most likely originated as a rouge exoplanet produced during one of the past crossings of our Solar System through the Galactic spiral arms in its orbital motion around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The similarity between the period of spiral-arm crossings of our Solar System to the period of major extinction events in the Phanerozoic Eon of the Earth's history, as well as to the period of the supercontinent cycle (the so-called Wilson Cycle), indicates that the global environment of the Milky Way Galaxy may have played a major role in initiating Earth's past tectonic activities.