Permean extinction and Basaltic lava flows.

[Blue Ghost]

Has anyone used the basaltic lava flow on the suggested animal encoutners' table in the events results? Allegedly a world wide version is one of the theories of what wiped out pre-Triassic life here on Earth.

I was wondering if any characters had to navigate this hazard.

 

[flykiller]

I have in fact this scenario in mind, as a recent past event, for an adventure I would like eventually to run. but never seen it anywhere else myself.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Cool. Let me know if you find something.

 

[Timerover51]

You might want to look also at some of the massive lava flows in the Western US that may have played some role in animal extinctions. I would have to get the data out for them

 

[Blue Ghost]

Interesting.

Part of the reason I ask is that allegedly the Permian extinction event was partially due to a massive basaltic lava flow, precipitated by a meteor impact in Siberia larger than the meteor that killed the dinosaurs.

It would be interesting (or perhaps sadistic) to have a lava flow, perhaps local, ooze up through the planet's crust while the players are maybe within a dozen yards/meters of their ship, just taking in the view or gathering samples of stuff.

 

[wbyrd]

I thin the Siberian flows are called the "Siberian Traps" they are also believed to have been formed by a massive thermal plume in the subsurface which burned through the crust. ( huge over simplification)

the Lava fields were huge, but were not the major killer, it was the massive release of volcanic gasses, dusts, and other environment affecting substances that came up along with the lava.

The net result is theorized to have trapped so much solar energy the planet cooked itself...( once again gross simplification)

I've read articles that indicate the oceans may have been warmed to the point he average surface temperature was around 100°F degrees/ 40 °C at the equator.

If you wanted to use this sort of massive eruption and out gassing in a game it would make a nice friendly habitable world a very unfriendly place in the span of years...

It'd be easy to imagine the sheer chaos that would break out in a colony or outpost near the sight of the initial eruptions. Within days the colony would be in danger of being destroyed by ash fall, gases concentrations and seismic disturbances.
If the colony were further away it would have maybe a month or two before the fallout from the volcano began to cause trouble.

Within days the ash and dust would make it dangerous to navigate aircraft and starships into the region to evacuate settlers, workers, or scientists caught under the ash plume and seismic activity, and potential secondary eruptions would be perfect "props" and surprise events to complicate any rescue or scientific expeditions into the area.

Just brainstorming with my friend we came up with half a dozen scenarios that would be perfect for a world undergoing a Siberian Trap style eruptions.

1) colony on the planet was evacuated hurriedly leaving behind the local corporations payroll and documents.
2) the planet is under travel restrictions with official permits needed to land on the world.
4) scientist has received permission to study the eruptions

so the team would have a dual mission, transport and keep the scientist alive, while recovering the Banks contents....and the complications involved ranging from a group of competing freelancers out to steal the shipment from the players, or a group fo killers out to assassinate the scientist and anyone with him..making it look like a tragic accident.

 

[Enoki]

Don't forget the Deccan Traps in India. Those occurred about the time the dinosaurs went extinct. That was another massive basaltic flow.

 

[Carlobrand]

There's some big-scale stuff here. Given the scale of many of these colonies, all it would take is a Vesuvius or a Soufriere Hills volcano to wreak havoc on many worlds. That last one had been dormant for over four centuries when it decided to get active again. Worse, one could evolve like Paricutin, a new fissure appearing where there hadn't been a volcano before, growing into something that swallowed the neighboring villages.

You wouldn't wreck the world ecology, but for a population of thousands or tens of thousands who suddenly found literally all of their homes and tools buried beneath 12 meters of mud and ash, it would matter very little. They would be struggling to feed and shelter themselves with nothing but whatever they'd managed to grab during their escape. With two weeks at best before word could get to another world and help return, it would be every bit as disastrous to those people as any of these larger events.

 

[wbyrd]

Considering the havoc a typical volcano can cause o advanced tech from Dust, ash, and corrosive gasses. a major volcano, or supervolanic eruption would be able to send any colony into the stone ages.

Ash can clog filters, and cause electronics to overheat, or short out. corrosive gasses can kill delicate systems. On top of that, you do not want to see what flying into a simple dust storm looks like from the inside.

Add in the interference from dust blocking satellite navigation systems, or electronic communications and even Traveller level tech is going to be pretty well useless.

 

[JimMarn]

History channel recently showed a documentary on the top 8 die offs.

The Siberian Traps animation was done showing what it would look like from low Earth orbit. It appeared to cover at least half of what is now Siberia. Rifts in the Earth's crust opened up, and them flowed over large areas until it combined into one gigantic flow.

Also, the history of Yosemite would be useful as the park is inside the caldera.

 

[shadowcat20]

Have the party near a dormant Volcano when it does a Krakatoa type blast. One moment things are fine, next a huge shockwave followed by stuff raining down.

 

[Carlobrand]

Have the party near a dormant Volcano when it does a Krakatoa type blast. One moment things are fine, next a huge shockwave followed by stuff raining down.

Umm, you do understand that if they're within a few miles of a Krakatoa type blast, they're going to die, right?

 

[BlackBat242]

Have the party near a dormant Volcano when it does a Krakatoa type blast. One moment things are fine, next a huge shockwave followed by stuff raining down.

The 1883 Krakatoa explosion (~200 megatons for the largest of the 4 explosions) was a wimp. It ejected 18–21 km3 of material. It caused a temperature drop of ~1.2 °C (2.2 °F) for about 5 years.

Try Tambora 1815 - ~800megatons. It ejected ~160 km3 of material. It caused a temperature drop of ~0.4–0.7°C (0.7–1.3°F) for about 3-4 years.

Or Toba ~66,000-77,000 BC - (explosive force uncalculated). It ejected between 2000 km3 and 3000 km3 of material. It caused a temperature drop of 3–5 °C (5.4-9°F) for around 1,000 years and is theorized to have caused a severe drop in the worldwide human population (among other animals).

 

[wbyrd]

Umm, you do understand that if they're within a few miles of a Krakatoa type blast, they're going to die, right?

well close to is a relative term..10 miles is point blank for that sort of blast. 100 Miles is "close"...50 miles is too (deleted) close.

 

[Carlobrand]

well close to is a relative term..10 miles is point blank for that sort of blast. 100 Miles is "close"...50 miles is too (deleted) close.

Soooo, wha' happens if you're a few miles off from ground-zero and realize it's about to happen and get in your ship and are buttoned up and just lifting off when ... :devil:

 

[aramis]

Soooo, wha' happens if you're a few miles off from ground-zero and realize it's about to happen and get in your ship and are buttoned up and just lifting off when ... :devil:

You pray while flying that you don't get hit by the now no longer grounded caldera's surface. You throw every spare watt into the drives, and push for ALL they're worth.

Or, if you're really, too close, you hit the jump engine. A very slim chance is better than a negligible one.

 

[wbyrd]

You pray while flying that you don't get hit by the now no longer grounded caldera's surface. You throw every spare watt into the drives, and push for ALL they're worth.

Or, if you're really, too close, you hit the jump engine. A very slim chance is better than a negligible one.

Ohhhh lordy, that would be an awesome scene in a movie.....


Scary thing is that even with max G acceleration from a near dead stop you cant outrun a concussion wave from an explosion of that magnitude....i'd hate to be the one adding up the mods on that roll...you'd have to break out the special theory of Misjump chance calculations....

 

[shadowcat20]

I knew the number crunchers would run with it....

Thanks for the numbers though. Learn something new every day.

 

[Carlobrand]

I knew the number crunchers would run with it....

Number crunchers?? Hey, I didn't even get a chance to calculate the penetration value of hypervelocity basalt chunks against a factor 40 bonded superdense hull! :devil: