200 million years ago, a giant tsunami caused by the fall of a meteorite destroyed three quarters of all life on the planet. The wave was too huge to be generated by a volcanic eruption or earthquake.
It was the worst catastrophe on the planet, destroying three quarters of all life on Earth. However, not a single person was hurt - there were simply no people at that time. The cataclysm happened 200 million years ago. According to the Spiegel magazine, under the German Tübingen, scientists discovered traces of a giant tsunami, which was so destructive that its occurrence most likely provoked a meteorite fall.
When the Tertiary period came to an end, the sea waves splashed in the territory where the German city of Tübingen is located today. The sea was tropical with moderate currents. But then the calm came to an end. A devastating tsunami hit the hitherto calm water surface, destroying everything in its path.
Today, a 20-centimeter layer of limestone rock reminds of this disaster. According to the geologist Michael Montenari, he indicates that 200 million years ago, a huge wave destroyed many living organisms.
The layer, which Montenari discovered near the town of Pfrondorf, consists of rocks, the color of which ranges from dark to bluish black. They contain a lot of remnants of shellfish shells. The shells of the molluscs are bulging upwards, and this, according to the researcher, is a sign that at one moment they were washed away by a gigantic stream. Already at first glance, it is clear that the layer was formed as a result of a powerful tide, the geologist says: "Suddenly, in a very short time, a powerful energy of a giant wave fell here."
The scientist said that his British colleagues found that the wave was too huge to be generated by a volcanic eruption or an underwater earthquake. The tsunami was between a thousand and a thousand two hundred meters high and spread over a thousand kilometers.
For comparison, the researcher cites the explosion of the island of Krakatoa at the end of the 19th century. “The volcanic eruption practically destroyed the island. The wave formed as a result of this eruption circled the Earth four times. It was recorded even tens of thousands of kilometers away from the epicenter of events - in the Thames harbor.
Giant waves leave the so-called. tsunami layer, which consists of sand, silt and the remains of living organisms. The tsunami that formed after the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano left only a seven-centimeter layer. The layer found in Germany is 20 to 30 centimeters thick.
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Taking into account the fact that over millions of years the layer was significantly compressed, it can be assumed that during the period of its formation, the thickness was three times greater - about one meter. Such a tsunami simply could not have formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. Today, the largest waves in the Pacific Ocean reach a height of 50-60 m, and earthquakes are limited to nine points on the Richter scale. 200 million years ago, an earthquake should have reached 20 points. There were no physical prerequisites for such an earthquake on Earth”.
Limestone deposits in other parts of the world suggest the direction of the giant wave. It was probably formed due to an impact that came from space. The epicenter was somewhere between modern Iceland and North America. The fact that it was a meteorite fall, scientists can claim thanks to the discovery of rare chemical elements such as iridium.
But, probably, not only the meteorite is to blame for the disaster that happened. Most likely, the impact from space coincided with an increase in volcanic activity, scientists believe.
