|
|
|
THREE
CRATERS IN ISRAEL
INTRODUCTION
In the summer of 1996 I took a five-week study tour in Israel, including
a visit to the Three Craters in Israel. Photos [P1],
[P2], [P3], [P4],
[P5] are copies of photos that I took at the Little
Crater. One can hardly view the actual Little Crater without thinking,
"What happened!?" The Little Crater is an ellipse 5.6 miles
long and 3.1 miles wide. It looks like a giant explosion had taken place
to form the crater.
The following is an Israeli geologist's gracious response to my email
query regarding the origin of the Three Craters in Israel:
February 23, 2001
George
— The craters are erosive features formed due to a planar truncation
surface that developed during the Miocene and drained the entire Negev
towards present day Mediterranean. Since the underlying structure is
asymmetric anticlines with soft material at the base and stiff material
at the top, those impressive rims of limestone and dolomite material
were developed.
Best regards, Yossi Hatzor
[R1].
Note:
The Miocene Epoch is 23.8 to 5.3 million years ago on the Geologic Time
Scale [R2]. Examples of anticlines and salt domes
may be found on the Gulf coast of Iran [R3]. Hatzor's
response no doubt reflects the generally accepted explanation for the
origin of the Three Craters. However, what if the craters resulted from
comet fragment impacts? Is there any evidence to support this alternative?
This possibility is investigated using the following well-known illustrations:
1) Comet Hale-Bopp
2) Comet Shoemaker-Levy
3) The Meteor Crater in Arizona
4) 3D Comet Impact Simulation
5) Satellite Image of Israel
6) Wabar Craters in Saudi Arabia
7) Map of Holy Land (500 A.D.)
8) Genesis 19:13-30 (NKJV)
As will be shown,
these eight elements provide some supporting evidence for comet-fragment
impacts.
TOP OF PAGE
SUMMARY
The recent passage of the large comet Hale-Bopp indicates that it was
also here about 4000 years ago (2000 B.C.). The comet's orbit is unusual
in that it is perpendicular to the plane of the earth (ecliptic) and crosses
the path of both Jupiter and the earth. If the timing of its orbit (2000
B.C.) caused it to pass very close to Jupiter, followed 15 months later
by a close earth passage, then fragments torn from this comet by Jupiter
could have impacted the earth.
Further, if the timing of the earth's rotation placed Israel as a target
for these fragments, then this would explain the origin of the Three Craters
in Israel. These 2000 B.C. fragment impacts are coincidental with the
Biblical Sodom / Gomorrah catastrophe, (dated 2066 B.C.). This scenario
might also account for a sudden evaporation of water from the lower Dead
Sea region. A calculated one billion tons of fragments from Hale-Bopp,
(impacting at 110,000 miles per hour), has the potential for vaporizing
about 120 cubic miles of water, reducing the remaining water to a brine
solution. The calculated impact energy is equivalent to about 30 times
all the nuclear bombs in the world, (an assumed 10,000 megatons for all
bombs). At the same time, the impacts may have caused a large landfill
area between the Dead Sea and Elat, closing off the Red Sea from the Dead
Sea. TOP OF PAGE
THREE CRATER SIZES
The map [F1] shows the location and size of the Three
Craters in Israel. The dimensions (miles) for the Little, Big, and Great
Crater are respectively, 3.1 x 5.6, 4.3 x 10.6, and 6.2 x 27.9. A possible
fourth impact on the lower Dead Sea has dimensions of about 11.2 x 24.8
miles.
It may be noted that the apparent direction of impact is southeast. This
SE direction is implied for the following reasons:
1) Little Crater
rim rupture is SE.
2) Brown fragments in all three craters are generally closer
to SE walls.
3) Huge patches of brown fragments located SE in Jordan.
4) Landfill in Arava is SE of the Great Crater.
5) Wabar Craters in Saudi Arabia are 1,100 miles SE of the Three Craters.
The elliptical elongation
of the craters would suggest either a NE or SW impact direction. However,
Sandia's 3D super-computer comet impact simulation [R8]
indicates that a comet would be deformed upon entering the earth's atmosphere,
even at Sandia's simulated entry speed of 134,000 miles per hour. This
might explain how NE oriented elliptical craters could be formed by a
SE impact.
The present level of the Dead Sea is 1300 feet below normal sea level,
Image [E], [R14]. Prior to the
impact, the Dead Sea may have been connected to the Red Sea, with a normal
salt content of about 3.5 per cent. As was noted in the Summary, the comet
fragment impacts have the potential to vaporize about 120 cubic miles
of water. This might explain how the water level of the Dead Sea was quickly
reduced to 1300 feet below sea level. Salt raining down would increase
the salt concentration of the remaining water to a brine solution (about
20 per cent salt) as it is today. Landfill from the Great Crater might
have shut off the Red Sea from the Dead Sea.
It is interesting to note that the southern part of the Dead Sea is about
16 feet deep, while the northern part reaches a depth of 1000 to 1200
feet. This suggests that some comet fragments also impacted the lower
end of the Dead Sea. TOP OF PAGE
COMET HALE-BOPP
The recent passage of the comet Hale-Bopp is shown at the bottom of figure
[F2]. The comet crossed the path of Jupiter in February
1996, before Jupiter reached this crossing point seven months later. Then
the comet crossed close to the earth's path about 14 months later (May
1997). But the earth had already gone by this crossing point about four
months earlier. For its next future passage, the comet had passed close
enough to Jupiter for its orbital period to be changed from about 4000
years to 2300 years [R6]. As was noted in the Summary,
the plane of the comet's orbit is perpendicular to the earth's orbital
plane (ecliptic). If Hale Bopp's coming was delayed just seven months,
then it would have been on a near collision course with Jupiter in October
1996. Also, if the delay was eight months, then it would have crossed
near the earth in January 1998.
The past orbit for Hale-Bopp (about 4000 years ago) cannot be calculated
precisely enough to ascertain how close it passed to Jupiter and the earth.
However, the past orbit, upper plot [F2], was calculated
[R13] assuming a very close passage to both Jupiter
(0.01 AU) and the earth (0.1 AU), as was described in the Summary. For
this calculation, the time between the Jupiter and earth crossings was
15 months, as compared to 14 months for the recent passage. Note: one
AU = 93 million miles.
Jupiter's orbital period is 11.863 years. If Jupiter had completed exactly
343 orbits prior to the near collision date of October 1996, then this
past crossing would be 4069 years ago, October 2073 B.C. (11.863 x 343).
This period (4069 years) is close to Yeoman's period (4200 years) [R6].
Similarly, the
near earth crossing would be 4069 years earlier than January 1998; that
is, January 2071 B.C. [F2]. As was noted in the Summary,
Hale Bopp's 2071 B.C. earth passage is close (within five years) to the
time of the Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah catastrophe dated 2066 B.C. [R12].
A negative time increment was used for this simulation [R13]
to back the comet away from the earth (January 2071 B.C.), past Jupiter
(October 2073 B.C.), and then out of the solar system. The simulation
suggests that the past-past orbit had a very eccentric orbit with a period
of only 265 years. When the comet passed Jupiter (October 2073 B.C.) its
orbit was deflected upward, coming down near the earth 15 months later,
with the comet's period changed from 265 years to about 4000 years.
A calculated billion tons of fragments are assumed to have been torn from
Hale-Bopp with its close Jupiter passage, going on to strike Israel, as
was noted in the Summary. According to Weaver [R10]
Hale-Bopp's nucleus is about 20 miles in diameter. Even if the comet's
nucleus has a mean specific density of only 0.05 (one twentieth of the
density of water), its mass would be about one trillion tons. Losing one
billion tons of fragments on its close passage to Jupiter would reduce
its overall mass just one tenth of one per cent.
TOP OF PAGE
COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY
Comet Shoemaker-Levy [R7] was torn into pieces as
a result of a close approach to Jupiter in July 1992. Looking like a string
of pearls, 21 discernible fragments returned two years later (July 1994)
to impact Jupiter, one at a time. High-resolution images of the comet
taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (July 1993) suggested that the
size of these major cometary fragments ranged from about a half-mile to
a few miles. The large fragments were embedded in a cloud of debris with
material ranging in size from boulder-sized to microscopic particles.
Although comet-like outgassing of the fragments was not observed, the
fragile nature of the object suggested that it was indeed a comet, rather
than a more compact asteroid.
Observations [R7] indicated that the comet's close
approach to Jupiter (1992) was at a distance of about 60,000 miles. In
the Hale-Bopp scenario described above, the close approach to Jupiter
was about 15 times further away (900,000 miles), so that Hale-Bopp would
probably have experienced only limited fragmentation by Jupiter. TOP
OF PAGE
METEOR CRATER IN ARIZONA
The Meteor Crater [R4],
has a diameter of
about three fourths of a mile and a rim height of nearly 200 feet. In
1963, the late geologist Gene Shoemaker analyzed the similarities between
the Meteor Crater and craters created by nuclear test explosions in Nevada
[R4]. His results indicate that 10,000 megatons of
nuclear bombs, (all the nuclear bombs in the world), would produce a crater
about 6.25 miles in diameter. Further, if the diameter of a crater were
double this size (13.5 miles), then the crater would have been caused
by eight times all the nuclear bombs in the world (80,000 megatons of
bombs), being proportional to the cube of the crater diameter. TOP
OF PAGE
HALE-BOPP FRAGMENTS
Gene Shoemaker's cube relationship was used to analyze the impact energy
involved in the assumed comet-fragment impacts in Israel (see table below).
The energy for 10,000 megatons of bombs was assumed to be exactly 4D+16
BTU. This is 4.0 with 16 zeros before the decimal point. One BTU is the
amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water
one degree Fahrenheit. Kinetic energy may then be determined knowing that
778 foot-pounds is the equivalent of one BTU. All these relationships
were utilized to calculate the table below. Once again, the comet-fragment
mass is about one billion tons, with the potential to vaporize about 120
cubic miles of water, (30 times all the world's nuclear bombs). TOP
OF PAGE
Hale-Bopp Fragment Energy Calculations
|
CRATER
|
|
|
|
|
|
Little
|
3.1
x 5.6
|
4.17
|
0.297
|
1.19D+16
|
|
Big
|
4.3
x 10.6
|
6.75
|
1.260
|
5.04D+16
|
|
Great
|
6.2
x 27.9
|
13.15
|
9.314
|
3.73D+17
|
|
Dead
Sea
|
11.2
x 24.8
|
16.67
|
18.97
|
7.59D+17
|
| |
[1]
|
[2]
|
[3]
|
[4]
|
[1] = crater dimensions
(miles)
[2] = equivalent crater diameter = sqr[1] (miles)
[3] = energy ratio compared to 10,000 megatons of nuclear bombs = ([2]
/ 6.25) cubed; (total = 29.82)
[4] = impact energy (BTU) = (4D+16) x [3] (energy for 10,000 megatons
of bombs = 4D+16 BTU)
|
CRATER
|
|
|
|
|
|
Little
|
1.16
|
9.24D+18
|
11.4
|
0.13
|
|
Big
|
4.93
|
3.92D+19
|
48.5
|
0.22
|
|
Great
|
36.5
|
2.90D+20
|
359
|
0.42
|
|
Dead
Sea
|
74.2
|
5.90D+20
|
730
|
0.53
|
| |
[5]
|
[6]
|
[7]
|
[8]
|
[5] = possible water
vaporized (cubic miles); total = 116.8; water from 70 to 212 degrees
F = 142 BTU/lb.; water heat of vaporization = 972 BTU/lb.; water vaporized
= 1114 BTU/lb.; water density = 62.4 pounds per cubic foot; heat to
vaporize one cubic foot of water = 69,514 BTU; one cubic mile = 1.472D+11
cubic feet; heat to vaporize one cubic mile of water = 1.023D+16 BTU
= 69,514 x (1.472D+11); possible water vaporized = [4] / 1.023D+16 (cubic
miles)
[6] impact energy (ft-lb) = 778 x [3] x (4D+16)
[7] Hale-Bopp fragment masses (million tons); total = 1,149; fragment
speed relative to the earth = 110,000 miles per hour = 161,333 feet
per second; fragment mass = [6] / (8.083D+17) million tons
[8] diameter of Hale-Bopp fragments (miles) assuming specific density
of two
TOP OF PAGE
3D COMET IMPACT SIMULATION
Sandia's 3D super-computer simulation of a one billion ton comet impact
(in the ocean) [R8] indicates that the comet would
vaporize 70 to 120 cubic miles of water on impact. The comet initial entry
speed into the atmosphere is 134,000 miles per hour, at a 45 degree angle.
These results are comparable to the calculations for Hale-Bopp fragments;
that is, 1.149 billion tons entering the atmosphere at 110,000 miles per
hour, with the potential to vaporize 117 cubic miles of water (see table
above). Based on a mean specific density of two, the calculated fragment
diameters (miles) for the Little, Big, Great, and lower Dead Sea are respectively:
0.13, 0.22, 0.42, and 0.53 (see table above).
The height of the Little Crater rim is about 200 feet above the surrounding
plain. This height may be estimated from the photo [P2]
using the van (lower left in photo) for scaling the rim height. The rim
measures about 33 van heights (6 feet), or 200 feet. This is the same
height as the Meteor Crater rim in Arizona [R4],
[R5].
For the Little Crater, a fragment diameter of 0.13 miles is the same as
a radius of about 350 feet. This is roughly the same radius of curvature
for the rim rupture photo [P3] (looking north),
and for the photo [P5] (looking south).
It appears that some of the surface rocks have experienced enough heat
to boil [P1], [P3]. Gene Shoemaker's
description of the Meteor Crater in Arizona also seems to apply to the
Little Crater, "...rocks have been pushed out...then peeled up...and
then overturned..." TOP OF PAGE
SATELLITE IMAGE
OF ISRAEL
Images [A], [B], [C],
[D] present portions of a 55 x 19 inch satellite
map of Israel. These are true-color high-resolution images [D].
Image [A] shows the Big and Little craters, and
the Dead Sea. The shallow and deep portions of the Dead Sea are easily
distinguished. The SE orientation of the Little Crater rim rupture may
also be noted.
Images [B] and [C] show all
three craters and the lower Dead Sea. Salty areas are generally white
in the satellite image. Brown fragments areas are clearly seen generally
SE of the Three Craters.
Image [D] shows what appears to be a large landfill
area in the Arava, (SE of the Great Crater), extending well into Jordan.
No vegetation was seen in the Arava when driving 100 miles along the western
side of the Arava, from the lower Dead Sea to Elat (Red Sea).
Image [E] shows the sea level contour around the
Dead Sea. The contour suggests that the Dead Sea covered a larger area
than it presently has. Again, a sudden loss of water may be attributable
to Hale Bopp fragment impacts. TOP
OF PAGE
WABAR CRATERS
The map of Saudi Arabia [F3] shows the location of
the Wabar Craters which are 1,100 miles southeast of the Three Craters
in Israel. From the Wabar crater sizes, Jeffrey Wynn and Gene Shoemaker
calculated that the incoming object weighed more than 300 tons and released
the energy equivalent of at least 1,000 tons of exploding TNT [R9].
The crater area is oriented for a SE impact.
They state:
"Studies
of impactite samples in the 1960s gives an age of about 6,400 years
for the craters, but we think that this is probably an order of magnitude
too high. It seems unlikely that the craters could have survived for
several thousand years in such an active desert environment. Based on
circumstantial evidence, we believe the impact took place sometime between
100 and 600 years ago."
The Wynn & Shoemaker
mass and energy calculates an impact speed of about 12,000 miles per hour,
as compared with 110,000 miles per hour for the Hale-Bopp fragments. Perhaps
the Wabar Craters were formed about 9 minutes after the impact in Israel,
from rebounding material that did not escape from the earth [F4].
Shifting sand dunes uncovered the two-ton "Camel's Hump" meteorite
in 1965 [F4]. The meteorite was found near the center
of the Wabar Craters, and calculates to have "floated" in with
a speed of about 1,000 miles per hour, surviving the impact. One might
say that the Wabar Craters provide some circumstantial evidence in support
of a comet-fragment impact in Israel. TOP
OF PAGE
MOSAIC MAP OF ISRAEL (500 A.D.)
The map [F5] is the earliest
known map of Israel, (500 A.D.). North of the Dead Sea (#3), fish are
shown swimming upstream in the Jordan River (#4), away from the Dead Sea.
St. Lot's Monastery (#8) is in the mountains, just above the little city
of Zoar (ZOOPA). Zoar is where the Bible says that Lot and his family
were miraculously protected from the brimstone and fire which rained down
out of the heavens. (Genesis 19:24). TOP
OF PAGE
GENESIS 19:13-30 (NKJV)
13
"For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them
has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us
to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law,
who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this
place; for the Lord will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law
he seemed to be joking.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels
urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two
daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the
city."
16 And while he lingered, the men took
hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters,
the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him
outside the city.
17 So it came to pass, when they had brought
them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look
behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains,
lest you be destroyed."
18 Then Lot said to them, "Please,
no, my lords!
19 "Indeed now, your servant has found
favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have
shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest
some evil overtake me and I die.
20 "See now, this city is near enough
to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it
not a little one?) and my soul shall live."
21 And he said to him, "See, I have
favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow
this city for which you have spoken.
22 "Hurry, escape there. For I cannot
do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the
city was called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when
Lot entered Zoar.
24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire
on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.
25 So He overthrew those cities, all the
plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him,
and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning
to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah,
and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke
of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed
the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out
of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which
Lot had dwelt.
30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt
in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid
to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
We are also told that the sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered
Zoar, just before the destruction began, verse 23. The table below indicates
that Hale-Bopp fragments would not be headed in an easterly direction
until after 9 A.M. TOP OF PAGE
Comet Hale-Bopp Fragments
Israel Impact — January 2071 B.C.
|
HOUR
|
COMPASS
DIRECTION
|
IMPACT
ANGLE
|
|
local
time
|
degree
|
degree
|
|
|
WEST
|
|
|
2
am
|
235
|
0
(miss)
|
|
3
am
|
240
|
-13
|
|
4
am
|
245
|
-26
|
|
5
am
|
250
|
-39
|
|
6
am
|
255
|
-51
|
|
7
am
|
260
|
-64
|
|
8
am
|
265
|
-77
|
|
|
|
|
|
9
am
|
270/090
|
-90
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EAST
|
|
|
10
am
|
095
|
-77
|
|
11
am
|
100
|
-64
|
|
12
noon
|
105
|
-51
|
|
1
pm
|
110
|
-39
|
|
2
pm
|
115
|
-26
|
|
3
pm
|
120
|
-13
|
|
4
pm
|
125
|
0
(miss)
|
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with all the plain (Arava?), and all
the inhabitants of the cities, and everything that grew on the ground,
verse 25. Abraham (probably the next morning) looked toward Sodom and
Gomorrah and the land of the plain, and saw the smoke of the land going
up like the smoke of a furnace, verse 28. But, Lot was afraid to dwell
in Zoar, and went up in the mountains and lived in a cave with his two
daughters, verse 30. TOP OF PAGE
DISCUSSION
The overall scenario described in this paper has many assumptions involved
in the calculations, even though there are perhaps some quite compelling
arguments for the comet-fragment scenario. However, the reader may wish
to simply stay with the general description presented by Hatzor [R1]
in the introduction. For anyone who believes the Bible as the historical,
literal word of God, then he does not need any calculations at all, the
Biblical account (Genesis 19) is sufficient. Still, he might expect to
see some evidence that such an event actually occurred. TOP
OF PAGE
CONCLUSIONS
Absolute perfect timing is required for all elements of the scenario to
fit together. If one is convinced that everything happens strictly by
chance, then the probability of this scenario is near zero.
Theologically, the comet-fragment scenario should stretch one's understanding
of the omniscient Creator, who knows the beginning and the end of all
things. The scenario emphasizes that there are no accidents with God,
only incidents. TOP OF PAGE
PHOTOS
TOP
OF PAGE
FIGURES
 |
[F1] Three
craters in Israel (map)
[click
on image for a larger view]
|
 |
[F2] Comet
Hale-Bopp Scenario
[click
on image for a larger view]
|
 |
[F3] Distance
of Craters in Israel to Craters in Saudi Arabia
[click
on image for a larger view]
|
 |
[F4] Wabar
Craters Scenario
[click
on image for a larger view]
|
 |
[F5] Mosaic
Map of Israel (500 A.D.)
[click
on image for a larger view]
|
TOP
OF PAGE
IMAGES
TOP
OF PAGE
REFERENCES
[R1]
Yossef Hodara Hatzor; http://www.bgu.ac.il/geol/hatzor/
[R2] The Geologic Time Scale; http://geology.er.usgs.gov/paleo/geotime.shtml
[R3] Anticlines and salt domes, Gulf coast, Iran; http://www.planetscapes.com/solar/cap/earth/anticlin.htm
[R4] The Barringer Meteorite Crater; http://www.barringercrater.com/science/main.htm
[R5] Meteor Crater; http://www.britannica.com/seo/m/meteor-crater/
[R6] Comet Hale-Bopp Orbit and Ephemeris Information; http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/ephemjpl6.html
[R7] Comet Shoemaker-Levy Background; http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/s19/background.html
[R8] CTH 3D Comet Impact Simulations; http://sherpa.sandia.gov/planet-impact/comet/
[R9] Secrets of the Wabar Craters, Jeffrey C. Wynn and Eugene M. Shoemaker,
November 1997, Sky & Telescope
[R10] Weaver, H. A., et al., 1997, Science, March 28, 1997, Vol. 275,
n5308, (pp. 1900-1904).
[R11] S. TAL Publishing 1994, Israel Satellite Map, P.O. Box 6771, Tel
Aviv 61067 Israel, Tel: (972)-3-6474208, Fax: 6485655, copyright Rohr
Productions LTD. & C.N.E.S., printed in Israel.
[R12] John C. Whitcomb, Jr., Professor of Old Testament, Grace Theological
Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana.
[R13] Sanctuary, G. E., "Whence Cometh Comet Hale Bopp?",
1998, unpublished.
[R14] "New Bible Atlas", 1985, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
(pp. 12-13).
TOP OF PAGE
A printed form of this paper was prepared 31 March 2001.
|
|
