European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 2, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday August 2, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 science news getting a glimpse into the past scientists speculate about sea wave did meteorite spawn tsunami by Cox news service Washington an Ocean wave at least 15 stories High roared Over relatively shallow seas in what is now East Central Texas millions of years ago and May have played a part in the still unidentified global upheaval some scientists believe led to the extinction of the dinosaurs researchers say. After studying Rock outcrops near the Brazos River Southeast of Waco Texas scientists from three universities concluded that a tsunami or seismic sea wave left disturbances in the Ocean floor approximately 66.4 million years ago. In an account of the research published in the latest science Magazine they said that the crash of a meteorite somewhere in the Western Atlantic Ocean could have generated a series of the huge Waves like Ripples from a Rock tossed into a Pond. Or. . Hansen a geologist at Western washing ton University in Bellingham wash., and one of the authors of the study said thursday rocks studied near the town of Rosebud Texas were broken in ways typical of an Ocean Bottom scoured by a tsunami wave. From single celled fossils present in the Rock the geologists calculated that the Ocean was about 100 Yards deep. The Shoreline was 100 Miles to the North at that time near the present site of Dallas Hansen said in a Telephone interview. We calculated How much Energy was necessary to rip up the kind of chunks of Ocean floor that we found and then calculated the size of the wave Hansen said adding he had concluded the wave was More than 160 feet High. Hansen said Rock deposits in Arkansas and Ala Bama off the Carolina coast and in the Caribbean indicate there was some sort of High Energy event that occurred right at that time and this kind of makes you think the Impact might have been some where in the tsunami Waves Are generated by earthquakes vol canoes and other catastrophes that disturb the Ocean floor. At sea they Are usually beneath the surface and therefore Are unnoticeable. A ship passing Over a tsunami May experience Only a slight swell of the sea. However a tsunami with enough Power to reach Shore can Rise to a height of More than 100 feet in a few minutes. Or. . Hayward a geologist at Baylor univer sity in Waco said rocks formed from a scoured sea floor would be evidence of a prehistoric tsunami that s pretty hard to argue we think we be proven there was a tsunami Hansen said. We speculate that the wave was Gener ated by some sort of extra terrestrial explosive volcanoes were Active in the West indies at the time of the wave he said. However no appears in sediments found with the disturbed Ocean floor and the wave seems to have been too Large to have been caused by a Volcano Hansen said. Have extinctions occurred on time schedule years of extinction All remaining Dinosaur and Many other reptiles became extinct. 125 million 144 million 103 million half of All animal families were killed. Vast numbers of shellfish and Plankton were wiped out. Not newly found Ocean Plankton May hold key to Plant evolution Cambridge mass. Up a newly discovered Type of Marine Plankton May be one of the most abundant of All species on Earth and a key to the earliest evolution of higher plants researchers said Friday. Numerically the single celled Plankton Are among the most abundant of Marine organisms reaching concentrations of More than 100,000 per Millilitre a million cells in a spoonful of Ocean water according to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of technology Harvard University and the Woods Hole oceanographic Institute. Researchers who reported their findings in the july 28 Issue of the scientific journal nature said they mapped and characterized the newly identified cells in different locations Over the past three years including the Southern California bight the Panama Basin the Gulf of Mexico the Caribbean and the North Atlantic. The species joins a group of microscopic Marine organisms known As photosynthetic Pic Plankton the smallest of microscopic organisms capable of converting sunlight to chemically stored Energy. The first species of Pic Plankton a Blue Green alga was recognized a decade ago and buttressed the theory that Plant life on Earth began with Early microscopic forms of life that which merged and be came incorporated into larger organisms. The cells of the new Plankton Are extremely Primi Tive and even smaller than those of Blue Green algae. They contain an unusual set of pigments indicating a possible link to higher plants. One of the pigments a form of chlorophyll a has been found in abundance Only in certain mutants of Corn. Future Navy will be shielded by laser beams Washington not in the Navy of the 21st Century submerged submarines will be Able to shoot at air planes stealth fighters that evade radar will be blown from aircraft carriers and laser beams will protect warships according to the chief of naval operations adm. Carlisle . Trost. The Navy s top officer said the rapid Advance of technology by the next Cen Tury will transform the character of maritime he said sensors and weapons from the sea bed to deep space would turn naval warfare on the surface As Well As above and below it into one Battlefield. At the same time Trost said he was worried that the United states would not educate enough engineers and scientists to bring into reality the technical advances in weaponry that Are within reach. Where Are the technically trained youth who will invent the 21st-Century equivalent of radar he asked. The secrets of science will not come readily to a society preoccupied with Lei sure and recreation the Admiral said. In an address to a conference of the United states naval Institute in san Diego Trost said last week that surveil Lance of . Naval forces in the 21st Century will be pervasive making them increasingly susceptible to Early Detec Tion and on the other hand Long Range and highly accurate missiles will allow greater dispersal of firepower among air Craft carriers surface combatants and submarines the Admiral said. Cruise missiles just becoming operational with non nuclear warheads will be spread through the Fleet he said. Fighter planes incorporating stealth technology to evade detection by radar which Are being developed now will go to sea in the next Century. The air Force now has about 85 stealth fighters and the first stealth bomber the b-2, is to make its first flight before the end of the year. Trost a submariner himself saw expanded missions for undersea boats. As All submarines become More quiet offensive operations in heavily defended Forward areas will offer increasing advantages he said with these areas being close to an enemy s shores or ships. Evolving technology will permit sub marines to undertake with High Confidence new missions the Admiral told members of the naval Institute which is a civilian organization supporting the Navy. Among them will be anti aircraft duty that submarines have not seen since they were inadvertently caught on the surface in world War ii and had to defend themselves with machine guns. Now scientists Are working on sensors for sub merged submarines that would select air planes overhead and guide missiles to those targets. For submarines that carry ballistic missiles Trost saw a new role in conventional deterrence. Instead of being armed with nuclear missiles they would carry Large numbers of cruise missiles with conventional warheads that could be launched from below the surface to Fly accurately to targets 1,500 to 3,000 Miles away. That deployment Trost said will help undermine any soviet Confidence about making a rapid movement with major assault Trost said that . Warships will need better Point defense systems that fire directly at an incoming plane or missile As opposed to rapid fire weapons that throw up a screen of bullets. For this the Navy will turn to directed Energy and particle beam weapons the Admiral said because they can be brought to Bear instantly against an above water
