Can a asteroid vaporizes a continent.?

Question

How big and fast moving of a asteroid would it take to vaporizes a continent and what would be the temperature of the asteroid impact explosion to vaporize a whole continent compar to that of a nuclear blast temperature.

Answer 1

Of course an asteroid could vaporize a continent.
Temperature depends on:
angle of impact
relative velocity
mass of the asteroid
density (or composition)
kind of terrain impacted

several times (way a lot more) than a nuclear bomb

here you have an on-line calculator to play with different parameters of mass, composition, diameter, etc. of an impactor and expected consequences:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/
 

Answer 2

if it's big enough, Yep no problem. Anything big enough to wipeout a continent would never actually hit the earth. Something that big, we are talking a few kilometers in diameter by the way, would be travelling at 100kms per second and as it covers such a large area, the air wouldn't be able to get out of the way quick enough and the shockwave and frontal pressure would shatter the earths crust and ta daa....... instant cataclysm Then it gets really nasty. It would make a nuclear explosion look like a firecracker. Temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees in seconds and oceans falling into sub crust magma.... bad day at the office time..

Answer 3

Anything is possible. However, to answer your question, one would need to know the mass, composition and velocity of the asteroid and which continent. (faster speed of asteroid with a smaller mass could equal a slower moving asteroid of greater mass. Then composition or density would be a factor, as well.)

It would only be an academic hypothesis, however, because any collision with anything of this magnitude would almost instantly exterminate any and all life on earth.

Answer 4

Hi. A large enough and fast enough body could vaporize pretty much anything. It depends on total kinetic energy. A nuclear detonation pales in comparison.

Answer 5

I use Preparation H!

Answer 6

Moon sized, maybe.

Answer 7

noot really

Answer 8

Should not happen, Thanks the planet Jupiter for that.