Chesapeake Bay Impact Essay

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Pages: 3

Scientists have recently discovered a 90-kilometer- wide crater at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay. 90 kilometers is also 56 miles in the Customary system. Cities close to the impact site of the meteorite were affected differently than places further from the impact. A meteorite impact would send material from the center of the crater flying in all directions. This material is called ejecta. Thermal radiation from the burning material inside the meteorite would spread around the area of impact. The distance between the impact site and a neighboring city would determine the effect of the radiation. Cities closer to the Chesapeake Bay would feel a stronger effect from the thermal radiation. A meteorite impacting the Earth would cause seismic …show more content…
Chicxulub was a 100 km wide NEO while the Chesapeake Bay impact was nearly 90 km wide. The radiation wave of the Chicxulub impact would be roughly 1,500 km in diameter and the Chesapeake Bay impact would be about 900 km in diameter. The Chicxulub crater caused many wildfires and vegetation to suffer along with there being tsunamis far inland. The Chesapeake Bay crater would also cause a tsunami wave in all of the cities, but the largest wave would be in Richmond. Within the 2000km away, these trees would feel the forces of the blast. The blast wave would hit the Gulf in 30 minutes with speeds of nearly 543 mph. The same time is approximate to how long it would take the Chesapeake Bay impact to reach Boston and Syracuse. The impact would generate a massive earthquake throughout the entire hemisphere, just like the Chicxulub affect did in the America’s. The seismic effect would be greater than 9.0 for hundreds of miles away. The Chicxulub crater was located on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, but the Chesapeake Bay crater was located in Virginia, Pennsylvania. The Chicxulub crater was much larger than the Chesapeake Bay crater, therefore it had a larger impact on the people living there. In the city of Ottawa, it was the furthest away from where the Chesapeake Bay crater happened which caused there to be no radiation. The Chicxulub crater caused glass from areas all over to shatter and