Although the Apophis asteroid is not guaranteed to hit the earth there is a 1/100 chance that it will do so in 2036, destroying possibly all life across a continent or more.
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CONTACT  The Dome is so big it can only be seen from space - as in the image here (false colour highlighting the features). Come
to our Vredefort Dome information centre to learn all about the mightiest
asteroid impact of them all. The Unesco World Heritage Site draws tourists,
school and student groups, scientists and adventurers. We are 2km from the town
of Parys, on the Vaal River in central South Africa. Get hold of us to arrange
your visit and plan a tour to suit your interests - from geology to
battlefields, from driving and hiking to cycling and rafting.Stay at Otters' Haunt Wonderful riverside accommodation in the Dome with direct access to many sites of interest. |
Asteroids threaten our survival, but some are rich in potential.  Credit: Eric James/NASD A fireball over California and Nevada last April scattered meteorites all over a wide area. The debris centred on Sutter’s Mill, named after the nearby historical site that started the California Gold Rush, so the space rock got the name Sutter’s Mill Meteorite. The asteroid itself turned out to be a scientific gold mine. The pieces were collected by a quick-off-the-mark research team. Sent to labs for analysis, they have a complex structure showing that many asteroids are formed from multiple accretions of floating space dust, rocks, minerals and water. There is nothing simple about the makeup of this carbonacious chondrite and scientists are excited by what it reveals about how asteroids formed from the matter of the solar system. The more we learn about asteroids – the loose cannons of neighbouring space – the more interesting and attractive they become. They could be used as bases for future space travel and the mining of metals like nickel. We could tow them to the moon and stockpile them. They may also reveal secrets of how life started in space. Read more. The much bigger asteroid that blew a huge hole in the Earth at what is now known as the Vredefort structure or Domeis also associated, like the Sutter’s Mill Meteorite, with gold. Neither brought any gold (at least not that we know of) but they have enriched our knowledge of planetary science.  Credit: Chamber of Mines, South Africa The Vredefort impact forced existing gold-bearing seams of the Witwatersrand Supergroup deep underground. Down there, preserved from erosion for two billion years, the world’s richest gold deposits lay hidden until in 1886 an Australian prospector called George Harrison spotted some outcrops on the surface. There is much to tell in the fascinating story of how gold has shaped modern South Africa. Harrison’s discovery provoked a wild gold rush. Miners from California, the Yukon, Australia, Europe and elsewhere flooded into this country. Vast wealth was generated for a few lucky capitalists. Meanwhile a system of labour exploitation had been evolving from earlier diamond mining and this was now applied in the much larger and richer gold industry. It was a system that drew big business into an alliance with racial separatists. The outcome was the political structure of apartheid. The discoveries of the gold diggers led to the development of advanced mining engineering and the transformation of the economy. It was truly a cloud with a golden lining. The exploitation of migrant black labour on a massive scale disrupted millions of lives across the subcontinent. After decades of crushing oppression, an upsurge of mass protests and armed resistance brought apartheid’s leaders to the negotiating table to establish a democratic state for all. Without the asteroid, none of this history could have unfolded in the way it did. Read more.
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What kind of Dome experience are you looking for? Science, astronomy, Dome by river, hiking, wildlife & ecology, origins of life, human history, culture, battlefields – or the lot? I’m finding that there are basically four kinds of visitor to the Dome, all wanting to know more – but each in their own way.
 Why not a Pilgrim's Rest? Hats off to the Dome Conservancy – a hardworking crew of volunteers – for once again running a successful Kuns, Kos en Kultuur day. Held at the little dorp of Venterskroon (don’t blink or you’ll miss it!) the annual fete drew a considerable crowd. I’ve always thought the Old Imperial Inn where the fete was held should become the centre of a Pilgrim’s Rest type olde golde rush towne. It’s a charming building, but it’s been vandalised several times while standing empty. Let’s hope better days lie ahead for it. Karen from Otters’ Haunt went along and commented that pensioners were selling handcrafts for R10 an item on average. The younger set of fleamarketeers averaged R40. That’s capitalism, age-related. But what I want to know is who needs the money more? One thing’s for sure. Recently there was a rather poorly attended fete in Parys, entrance fee R50 or more depending on the shine of your shoes. The wise decision of the Conservancy was to charge R10 a head and pack-em-in. That’s how to popularise. Get the crowd in and let the income look after itself as they go around spending. Anyway it’s only money but the Spirit of Place is what really counts.  From spaza to fleamarket is not so far But I do have a question. It’s time to include black home industries and culture on a much more proactive basis. Sure, there will be problems getting people from the townships but remember, the Dome has been a melting pot in more than one sense. After the Almighty blew a hole in the ground here He decided it would be interesting to mix up the tribes of humanity. The Dome has been crossed and recrossed by innumerable migrants from the time of the First People (Bushmen) to the arrival of the Khoi and then the first Bantu-speaking tribes from the north. Then came the Matabele invasion, the Voortrekkers, the gold rush and the Uitlanders, wars, immigrants and Gauteng commuters… all had a role and all should have a presence. Easy to say. How do we pull them all in to the fleamarket thing? It’s a big one – but harmless for now!From The Guardian: Astronomers around the world have readied their telescopes to catch a glimpse of a speeding ball of rock that will hurtle past the Earth on Tuesday night. Scientists say the asteroid, which is about a quarter of a mile wide, will pass inside the moon’s orbit and come within 198,000 miles (319,000km) of Earth at 23.28GMT. This is the closest a tracked object this size has come to the planet. Nasa calculates the 400-metre (1,312ft) wide asteroid, known as 2005 YU55, has roughly has a one in 10 million chance of hitting Earth in the next century. Were it to strike, the collision would unleash the equivalent of several thousand megatonnes of TNT. Even with clear skies the asteroid will not be visible to the naked eye, but professional and amateur astronomers will turn their telescopes on the rock to learn about its surface and chemical composition. …More
One of the theories about asteroids and their cousins the comets is that during the “era of bombardment” of the planets about 4.3 billion years ago, these chunks of rock and ice brought the Earth’s water. They also may have contained the building blocks of life, the amino acids that go into DNA. This theory of “panspermia” holds that life did not begin on Earth but was brought here from space. It suggests that life may be widespread in the universe, though as yet we have no scientific confirmation of that. The search for life in space has been going on for decades without positive results – and anyway, even if we found it, it could be too far away, or too alien, for us to communicate with it! For more on these topics:
See the evidence of impacts, early life and asteroid traces on a visit to the Vredefort Dome! – Graeme Addison
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