>I keep forgetting to send copies to the ASAnet. I wish all replys were
>automatically sent to the ASAnet rather than just the author.
On the other hand, the present configuration limits accidentally sending
personal messages to the list, so it is hard to judge which is better.
> (this is in reply to David's comments below)
> I posted just a few weeks ago, an experiment which I did involving 3 jars
>each with different amounts water and soil. The data showed that when the
>ratio of water to soil gets small enough the settling times become irrelevant.
>In the one jar of 12 parts water to 1 part soil, most of the soil settled out
>from the bottom up in less than 5 minutes. In the Jars where the ratio was 9
>parts water to 4 parts soil, the mixture settled to 1 part water and 11 parts
>muddy mix sitting on the bottom. The mud shrank back down to the original 4
>parts of soil over a period of 1 hour. In the Jar of 6 parts to 7 parts soil.
>In 5 minutes that muddy mixture was 1 part water sitting above 11 parts muddy
>mix sitting on the bottom of the jar. Over the next hour and 1/2 the mud
>slowly shrank back down to the original 7 parts of soil. The point is that
>the mud was on the bottom of the last two jars within 5 minutes. The only
>difference over time was the density of the mud. The soil carried by the
>waves is deposited as mud quickly and then that deposition shrinks in
>thickness as water seeps upward out of it. The settling times only come into
>effect when the amount of soil in the water smaller than the saturation
>point.<
Does this realistically represent a global ocean with continuous stirring
by meteorite bombardment?
>
> The impact scenario does not help avoid the problem of settling times. If
> a given layer is produced by one impact, it has to be entirely deposited
> before the next impact deposts stuff on top of it and also must somehow
> avoid being stirred up by the next impact. I also doubt that an amphibian
> blasted out of place by an impact into salt water will be in any condition
> to make footprints.
>
> Woodmorappe has shown that the problems imagined about salt water is just
>that, imagination.
Many organisms cannot tolerate significant changes in water salinity;
having a high sediment to water ratio (as envisioned above) would not help
survival of aquatic organisms. Some time ago, a Woodmoreappe model of
differentiated layers of water was invoked. If this is what you are
referring to, the objections raised at that point still stand. In
particular, meteorite impacts would disrupt the stratification of the water
column, whereas a stratified water column would produce anoxia and death of
every aerobe in the lower layers.
David C.
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