is the gulf of mexcio an asteroid crater?
491244
By itself it is not, but there is a large one near the Yucatan Peninsula, thought to be the result of a strike that led to the dinosaur extinction.
749360
There are no earth size asteroids. The earth is the 6th largest object in the solar system after the Sun and the 4 gas giants and bigger than Mars Venus and Mercury. So if there were an object as big as the Earth and therefore bigger than Mars Venus and Mercury, it would have long ago been classified as a planet, not an asteroid!\n\nYou appear to be unaware that there is international co-operation between NASA, the European Space Agency and others on a project called Spaceguard. which keeps an eye open for asteroids, comets and other objects that may perhaps be on a collision course with the Earth.\n\nThe term Spaceguard loosely refers to a number of efforts to discover and study near-Earth objects (NEO). Arthur C. Clarke coined the term in his novel Rendezvous with Rama where SPACEGUARD was the name of an early warning system created following a catastrophic asteroid impact on Italy. This name was later adopted by a number of real life efforts to discover and study Near-Earth Objects.\n\nA 1992 U.S. Congressional study produced a "Spaceguard Survey Report" which led to a mandate that NASA locate 90% of large near-Earth asteroids within 10 years\n\nWe know as of September 2006 of some 342,536 asteroids, But of these. only a relatively small number come inside Mars' orbit and less than 5,000 are classed as Near-Earth Objects.\n\nAs of August 31, 2006, 4,187 NEO's have been discovered: 57 near-Earth comets and 4,130 near-Earth asteroids. There are 792 NEO's which are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids.  \n\nEstimating the risks\n\nThere are two schemes for classification of impact hazards: the simple Torino Scale and the more complex Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale \n\nOn 25 December 2004, minor planet 99942 Apophis was assigned a 4 on the Torino scale, the highest rating so far. At 27 December 2004 there was a 2.7% chance of Earth impact on the 13 April 2029. However, on 28 December 2004, the risk of impact dropped to zero for 2029, but, due to a resonant return possibility the Torino rating for an April 2036 impact rose to 4 in early 2005 and, as of August 2006, has dropped gradually to a Torino rating of 0 (zero). The Palermo rating (August 2006) is −2.25.\n\nOnce the Spaceguard community is alerted to a potential impactor its orbit is immediately studied in great detail to get a more accurate projection of whether there will be an impact scenario or not. \n\nAs you can see the immediate threat anticipated on 25th Dec 2004 of an impact 25 years later was able to confidently be rejected, 3 days later. Word went round immediately there was an alert and the work needed was done, even though it was Christmas.\n\nSo the astronomers are on the case. and the paranoid should not let their uninformed imaginations run riot.\n\nCurrently, the only known NEO with a Palermo scale value greater than zero is (29075) 1950 DA, which is predicted to pass very close to or collide with the Earth (p≤0.003) in the year 2880. If this collision were to happen, the energy released by a collision with (29075) 1950 DA would cause an extinction event which would destroy most life on the planet. However, humanity has over 800 years to refine its estimates of the orbit of (29075) 1950 DA, and to deflect it if necessary.\n\nNASA maintains a continuously updated web page of the most significant NEO threats in the next 100 years - all or nearly all of which are highly likely to drop off the list eventually as more data comes in enabling more accurate predictions; however, that page does not, of course, include 1950 DA, because that will not strike for at least 800 years.\n\nSo it is down to vigilance so as to anticipate danger, precision so as to quantify it, and technical knowhow, so as to avert it.
522372
No, Because only one asteroid is that big. It is named Ceres and we know it's orbit very well it never comes anywhere near Earth.
604083
Obviously, it's not an actual explosion, but the effects are very large.  Let's take the one that's supposed to have killed off the dinosaurs.  The meteorite was very large - I don't have the scientific estimates in front of me, but at least a kilometer in diameter, probably more.  Now this thing is big and moving at a very high velocity; it has lots of kinetic energy.  When it hits the earth, the meterite stops moving, but according to the Law of Conservation of Energy, the energy can't just disappear.  Instead, it has to be changed into other forms such as sound, heat, and vibration.\n \n Also, there's Newton's law that says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  If you throw a ball at the ground it will bounce back, but if the ball has no elasticity and can't bounce, then the ground itself (part of it, dust etc.) will bounce back instead.  That's what happened when the meteorite hit earth.  Only, of course, it was a lot bigger than a ball, and the crater it created was between 180 and 300 km across.  It's in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, if you're interested.
35135
Mexicali is the capital of the state of Baja California, Mexico as well as the capital of the municipality of Mexicali. Situated along the state's northern border with the U.S state of California, Mexicali is the northernmost city in Latin America
11646
The asteroid you are referring to is actually called "Apophis" which is the greek name for an Egyptian god, also known as the "Destroyer". Apophis is also called 2004 MN4. It is projected to come very close to the earth on April 13, 2029. So far, astronomers have calculated that it will miss the earth by a safe margin, however the gravitational pull of the earth could alter the orbit, putting the asteroid on a much more dangerous course in coming years. Currently, there are talks about launching a device to better monitor it's travels.
552556
It is certainly possible that some of the many tiny moons of the larger, gas giant, planets could have come from the asteroid belt.  Those massive planets' gravitational field are prone to capture a lot of debris from the solar system.\n\nWow, FishRN, it must have taken a lot out of you to copy paste that whole thing from the wikipedia article, so much so that you couldnt even list your source.\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt
447867
gulf of Mexico.  The total area of the Gulf of Mexico is approximately 615,000 mi² (1.6 million km²), the southern third of which lies within the tropics, and plunges to a depth of 2,080 fathoms (3804 m). This deepest part is Sigsbee Deep, an irregular trough more than 300 nautical miles (550 km) long, sometimes called the "Grand Canyon under the sea."
1173795
One of the clearest sign of a massive impact was massive extinction of life. The greatest extinction event sometimes called the Great Dying was the Permian-Triassic extinction. It occurred approximately 251 million years ago (mya), forming the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods. It was the Earth's most severe extinction event, with about 96 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct. Recently, a 300-mile-wide crater was discovered in the Wilkes Land region of East Antarctica, which is believed to be linked with the extinction.\n\nA 300-mile-wide crater more than a mile beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet was found using gravity fluctuations measured by NASA's GRACE satellites to peer beneath Antarctica's icy surface, imaging a 200-mile-wide plug of mantle material—a mass concentration, or "mascon" in geological parlance—that occurs within the Earth's crust and appears to have been emplaced somewhere between 100 and 500 million years ago—a broad time span that brackets the specific age of the Permian-Triassic extinction.\n\nWhen the scientists overlaid their gravity image with airborne radar images of the ground beneath the ice, they found the mascon perfectly centered inside a circular ridge some 500 km (300 miles) wide. The Wilkes Land crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Chicxulub impactor (most likely an asteroid) is thought to have been 6 miles wide, while the Wilkes Land impactor (either an asteroid or perhaps a large comet nucleus) could have been up to 30 miles wide—four or five times as wide.
1143060
WTF? The Gulf of Mexico is a gulf...of Mexico...
835977
Stephens impressionistically described what was later identified as the ruined Maya city of Copan: "It lay before us like a shattered bark in the midst of the ocean, her masts gone, her name effaced, her crew perished, and none to tell whence she came, to whom she belonged, how long on her voyage, or what caused her destruction."\n\nThe typical Maya family (averaging five to seven members, archaeologists guess) probably arose before dawn to a breakfast of hot chocolate--or, if they weren't rich enough, a thick, hot corn drink called atole--and tortillas or tamales. The house was usually a one-room hut built of interwoven poles covered with dried mud. Meals of corn, squash and beans, supplemented with the occasional turkey or rabbit, were probably eaten on the run.\n\nsecond source\n\nNot all the cities were developed at the same time. At the beginnings of the Maya culture, the highlands raised the first edifices. In the apogee of the Classical Period, between 250 and 900 A.D., the lowlands witnessed the flourishing of great cities such as Tikal, located in the heart of the Guatemalan Petén. After that, the creative impulse moved to the plains and low plateaus of the south end of the Yucatán peninsula, where the Puuc cities saw their moment of glory.\n\nEach Maya city exhibits a unique style, although regions and epochs lent them certain common features. When we visit the ruins of the cities that seem to suddenly appear from the dense jungle, we cannot but admire the engineering workmanship which guaranteed the supply of provisions and water to the inhabitants; the fine stucco decorations; the stone estelas, dumb witnesses to the most advanced calendar system of those days; the ample and complex network of roads that criss-crossed all the land, keeping communications, commerce and interchange open to all Maya centres.\n\nThe names of the old cities are forgotten. The ones we use today were made up by explorers and missionaries, travelers and archaeologists. One of the few prehispanic names we keep is that of the City of the Wizards of the Water, Chichén Itzá.
400469
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/28/asteroid.newser/
437156
Sure, the main theory right now is that of a large meteoritic impact, first seriously proposed back in 1980. It fits the requirement of a rapid and sudden kill-off event. What killed the dinosuars? Well the immediate effect of a large asteroid impact would be global firestorms. The ejecta reaches low earth orbit and then superheats as it re-enters the atmosphere. This pretty much covers much of the planet in fire. Other bad things happen, toxic metals in the air and water, dust obscuring the sun, many bad things, but the main killing factor is the global fire storm.\n\nAs scientists we really like the asteroid impact theory as it is supported with the following evidence:\n\n1. The boundry layer in which the extinction occured is ultra-rich in the element irridum. These high concentrations of irridium are not found on earth, but match very well to those of meteoritic samples that we have. This boundry layer with irridium has been found all over the globe.\n\n2. Shocked quartz deposits have been found in the regions near central to lower north america, indicating a large shockwave propagated across the area\n\n3. Tiny glass beads have been found in the same regions, with larger ones more concentrated near the Yucatan. Thes glass bead are most closely related to objects we call Tektites, a glass that forms from meteorite impact ejecta. (cool science thing: you can get tektites for a couple dollars at any rock shop!)\n\n4. Tsunami deposits from that era have been found in the gulf of mexico region, indicating massive tidal wave events\n\n5. A crater caused an impact large enough to cause all of these things has been found right on the coast of the Yucatan, centered on Chicxulub, and dating to the right time period.
320584
Yes, it's only a matter of time.  Scientists are finding more and more places on Earth that are actually meteor craters.  They have found that Meteor Crater in Arizona actually was created by one, that a large valley in Germany is actually a large meteor crater, that the dinosaurs were killed off when a meteor hit the Yucatan peninsula, etc., etc.  The only reason they don't show up as well on Earth is because of erosion.  But if there is shocked quartz nearby, a meteor has hit, because it is not found naturally, but is caused by a meteor strike.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of orbit-crossing meteors, so it is only a matter of time before another one gets us.
335043
Yes. Here's the proof: There has been talk that the asteroid 1997XF11 will crash into the Earth in the year 2028. The bottom line is that this asteroid poses no threat to the planet Earth in the next century. But, it will pass by the Earth over and over again in the next centuries, so it is worth knowing what our countermeasures are if it ever gets too close!\n\nRight now, they have the technology to divert a comet or asteroid coming towards the Earth. Our rockets and explosives would be sufficient to break apart even a large object of about 1 kilometer in diameter. We would of course need some lead time (10 years would be a nice minimum notice). Blowing up an asteroid or a comet too near to the Earth, would just create a chaotic mess of smaller pieces flying towards the Earth. If we were to discover an object coming towards the Earth with only 1-2 years notice before impact, our technologies might not be adequate. The best we could hope to do would be to evacuate the impact site. So the best plan right now is to continue surveying for Near Earth Objects, so that we will know where these asteroids and comets are in time to prepare any countermeasures that might be necessary.
605191
This is a MODIS Stellite image with a Digital Elevation Model merged\n\nSalute from Baja California\n\nif u need specific info contact me\nmikegzzb@hotmail.com\n\nhttp://www.conabio.gob.mx/informacion/geo_espanol/doctos/imagenalta_febrero2003.html
599046
UPDATED!!!\n\nIt is taken seriously, and is now generally accepted as the primary cause of the dinosaurs' demise.  there may have been additional factors, but a meteorite impact is considered to be the biggest one.\n\nFor a long time, however, it was believed that meteroites only struck the earth in the past, and after that initial bombardment, the danger passed.  And most scientists demanded a "smoking gun."  A crater.  That crater was finally found...under water.  Off of the Yucatan Penninsula.  When the meteorite first made contact with the surface of the earth, the top point of the giant rock was six miles in the sky!!  It left a crater 25 miles deep.  Imagine standing on the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon.  If that was the Yucatan Crater, the other side of it would have engulfed the casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada!\n\nThe confirmation that it was an asteroid (or meteorite) strike that killed the dinosaurs was the detection of an element called iridium, which is common in space, but rare on earth.  Another indicator is the presence of shocked quartz close to the area of impact.  There are no normal geological processes powerful enough to shock quartz, but a meteorite, if it was big enough, could do it.  Then as the meteorite and the rock with which it impacts is vaporized and blown up into the earths atmosphere, the huge cloud of dust spreads out over the world and eventually settles back down\n\nScientists can tell when the impact occured because after a certain level of geological stratus (layers of sediment laid down over time), dinosaurs are no longer found.  At all.  When they analysed the materials in this layer of sedentary rock, they found unusually high levels of iridium.\n\nSuch impacts are not necessarily periodic events.  Such a thing absolutely will happen to the earth again.  Not if.  When.  And nobody knows when it will happen.  Astronomers have identified thousands of Near Earth Objects.  Any one of these could be the next to strike us, or perhaps one that we missed.\n\nBut it WILL happen.\n\n"if the planet would have been in the outer reaches how can it really be so impactful that it jolted numerous rocks towards earth"\n\nBecause that far out in space, very small changes in direction can have major impacts on the objects trajectory after it has traveled millions or billions of miles.  If you aim a rifle at the bullsey of a target that is 100 meters away and move the barrel end of the rifle just one centimeter, the bullet may miss the target completely.  Just that small distance can be a big miss at a long range.  Likewise, if an asteroid is on a trajectory that doesn't put earth in any danger makes only a slight change, possibly no more than the width of a human hair, it may wind up on a path that will cause it to crash into earth, or a different planet.  This change in the asteroid's path may be caused by the gravitational pull of a nearby planet, or by one asteroid gently bumping into another.  And this can happen anywhere.  While the asteroid is in orbit within our solar system, or in what is known as the "Asteroid Belt."\n\n"also if the planet is undiscovered how can they say anything about its involvement with earth being peiodic"\n\nGood question.  For a long time, scientists suspected that there was another planet beyond Pluto.  The reasons for this were that although this other planet could not be seen, its gravitational effects on other objects could be detected.  I don't know what the specifics of this process\nwere, but perhaps they measured a slight "wobble" in the orbit of pluto that had to have been caused by something with enough mass to cause the wobble.  Astronomers referred to this object as Planet X.  This planet has now been discovered and verified.  It was named Xena.\n\nIt should also be noted that the cause of a change in an asteroid's path doesn't have to be cused by a planet that is very far away.  There are