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8/26/2010 3:43:52 PM
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Is Reach recoverable, even after the Covenant glassing?
Is Reach uninhabitable after being thoroughly glassed by the Covenant? Yes. But for quite a long while.
Give it 1000 years or so, Reach would recover naturally after a period of ice age (onset of "nuclear winter" caused by Covenant glassing), even its landscapes would be different than the ones seen in the days of the humans living on the planet. Some indigenous species thought to be perished by the Covenant glassing somehow survived, adapted, and thrived. Maybe the Moa survived. Only the Highland Mountains remain unchanged.
Earth had been "glassed", figuratively speaking, by its own super-volcanoes or asteroid bombardments in its long history, yet timely nature restored Earth. One day, the Yellowstone super-volcano could vaporize North America, blanket half of the world's environment and plunge Earth into an ice age. Or a nuclear war in the 21st century?
It's the 34th century, humans from Earth and other human worlds are returning to Reach for the first time, although not yet inhabitable. The Human-Covenant Wars are but a distant memory and the story of the Fall of Reach is the stuff of legends. Some skeletal remains of the human civilization of Reach can still be seen.
Discuss or just forget about it?
I'm really looking forward to the virtual environment of Reach when the game comes out! :)
[Edited on 08.26.2010 7:48 AM PDT]
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[WARNING SPOILERS] If you watch the end of the campaign, after Lone Wolf, you'll see a lush, green landscape, with a spaceship off in the distance. In other words, yes, Reach does recover.
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Looks like they did re-terraformed it in 2589.
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I would be curious what was the material like in the ground zero after the Soviets exploded its first hydrogen bomb in the 1950s.
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Keep on digging until the surface is full of unglassed soil from the underground and send all those molten soils to somewhere.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] ColonelRobert Good point about lechatelierite. I was thinking about the Trinity site of the first atomic bomb explosion in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the explosion left the center made of [url=http://www.twoguysfossils.com/trinitite.htm]trinitite[/url]. [quote]The resulting fireball that scorched the desert formed a depressed crater 800 yards in diameter, glazed with a light olive green, glass-like substance where the sand had melted and solidified again. The following excerpt is from Time Magazine, Sept. 17, 1945: Seen from the air, the crater itself seems (looks like) a lake of green Jade shaped like a splashy star, and set in a sere disc of burnt vegetation half a mile wide. From close up the lake is a glistening encrustation of blue-green glass 2,400 feet in diameter, formed when the molten soil solidified in air. Chemical tests have confirmed that it is nearly pure melted silica with traces of Olivine, Feldspar, and other minerals which comprise the desert sand.[/quote] [/quote] Ah, yes, trinitite. You bring up a valid subject, but it isn't necessarily the same thing. Trinitite was created from the immense pressure and temperature from the plutonium blast. While similar in physical properties (leaving out the green hue), they vary in the geochemical makeup. Trinitite and lechatelierite are both classified in the quartz mineral family. Lechatelierite, however is completely made up of silica, while trinitite is made up of both feldspar and silica. This gives trinitite that distinct green color, while lechatelierite has a murky sandy-clear color. Trinitite is the same thing as lechatelierite, but is made artificially, and contains [url=http://www.abstractatus.com/english/trinitite/]trace amounts of radiation[/url]. The Covenant utilize Hydrogen-based plasma weaponry when it comes to glassing planets, due to the high amount of cheap Hydrogen available. Superheated Hydrogen acts the same way as a lightning strike, and so does not necessarily contaminate the silica. That is the difference between the two. Now, if the Covenant used Plutonium-based or Uranium-based plasma weaponry... Well, that'd be another thing. A very, very bad thing.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Kabcr1 You are correct. However, when plasma touches down in the surface, the soil is boiled at 50,000+ Degrees Celsius. This vaporizes most solids, leaving nothing but a little thing called [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lechatelierite]lechatelierite[/url], which is essentially glass. One cannot revert the lechatelierite to its previous form of soil, since all that is left over is Silicon. Most elements, like Carbon, Hydrogen, and all the other trace minerals (etc...) in the soil would have turned into a vapor, rendering the atmosphere irreparably damaged with Carbon Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide, which in theory should take more than a century for the atmosphere to turn back to its original state. (sorry for the run-on... too lazy to separate). The building would have collapsed, and the Iron and Steel frames, gone. Nothing but a pile of crystallized Silicone would be left where the skyscrapers once stood. The planet would not be habitable for a couple of centuries. And even then, one must cope with the replacement of all the lost minerals and water that was lost to space. In other words, yes, one could revisit Reach, but you wouldn't be staying there for long.[/quote] Good point about lechatelierite. I was thinking about the Trinity site of the first atomic bomb explosion in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the explosion left the center made of [url=http://www.twoguysfossils.com/trinitite.htm]trinitite[/url]. [quote]The resulting fireball that scorched the desert formed a depressed crater 800 yards in diameter, glazed with a light olive green, glass-like substance where the sand had melted and solidified again. The following excerpt is from Time Magazine, Sept. 17, 1945: Seen from the air, the crater itself seems (looks like) a lake of green Jade shaped like a splashy star, and set in a sere disc of burnt vegetation half a mile wide. From close up the lake is a glistening encrustation of blue-green glass 2,400 feet in diameter, formed when the molten soil solidified in air. Chemical tests have confirmed that it is nearly pure melted silica with traces of Olivine, Feldspar, and other minerals which comprise the desert sand.[/quote]
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] darthnazgul Maybe, the UNSC might develop a terra-forming device to recreate the Planet.[/quote]What? You mean the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C93hOrYHdY]Genesis Device?[/url]
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Sorry to burst your bubble man but Reach is fiction.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DemiGold Earth wasn't glassed; glassing is superheating the surface until it becomes a glass-like substance. Earth just melted. Also, an excerpt from Halopedia: [i]Subsequently, the atmosphere is covered with soot and ash thrown up from the initial impact, subjecting the planet to a nuclear winter. As the initial impact area cools, the surface is covered by extensive areas of molten soil, and is comparable to active volcanic sites in some parts of the world, on a larger scale depending on the extent.[b] The destructive process leaves the planet unable to recover to its former state. As a result of the destruction, the atmospheres of most planets have been known to boil away from the process[6], though not all planets suffered this, with the most notable exception being Reach.[/b][/i] The planet won't recover from the glassing. It's surface is permanently ruined. It's atmosphere is likely to boil away, but not neccessarily. Reach is probably an exception, because it was glassed in parts, while other regions were left untouched, so the Covenant could search for the Forerunner artifacts the planet hid. [/quote] You are correct. However, when plasma touches down in the surface, the soil is boiled at 50,000+ Degrees Celsius. This vaporizes most solids, leaving nothing but a little thing called [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lechatelierite]lechatelierite[/url], which is essentially glass. One cannot revert the lechatelierite to its previous form of soil, since all that is left over is Silicon. Most elements, like Carbon, Hydrogen, and all the other trace minerals (etc...) in the soil would have turned into a vapor, rendering the atmosphere irreparably damaged with Carbon Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide, which in theory should take more than a century for the atmosphere to turn back to its original state. (sorry for the run-on... too lazy to separate). The building would have collapsed, and the Iron and Steel frames, gone. Nothing but a pile of crystallized Silicone would be left where the skyscrapers once stood. The planet would not be habitable for a couple of centuries. And even then, one must cope with the replacement of all the lost minerals and water that was lost to space. In other words, yes, one could revisit Reach, but you wouldn't be staying there for long.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] darthnazgul Maybe, the UNSC might develop a terra-forming device to recreate the Planet.[/quote] They already do; The UNSC transforms the atmosphere of planets with unsuitable atmospheres but habitable surfaces. This takes years. They don't terraform like forerunners, making land itself.
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Read Halo: Evolutions. There's a story in that collection that takes place on a human world that was "glassed". It gives some insight into how much of the world was burned and how the environment is comming back.
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It is almost impossible. Most of Reach was totally glassed, only the area surrounding CASTLE base survived. The biosphere was totally eradicated and the atmosphere would have completely boiled away after a week or so. Even if Reach could be recovered, it would take many thousands of years for a planet to recover from that amount of damage, if ever. And why would Humanity want to? That place would hold bitter memories for the survivors of the war.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] subfocus45 is halo reach confirmed to be set before halo 1 evets yet?[/quote]are you really asking that? lol
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I think in some book the humans (or was it the covenenant) destroyed what was left of reach in big ass BANG! ala Death Star.... I could be wrong.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] subfocus45 is halo reach confirmed to be set before halo 1 evets yet?[/quote] It has always been confirmed. If you read the books or play Halo CE you'd know Reach falls just as Halo CE begins. The opening scene of CE is Keyes jumping the Pillar of Autumn away fom Reach, to stop the Covies from getting Earth's location. All of which led to the Halo and Chief's story. [Edited on 08.26.2010 8:17 AM PDT]
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Wel [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DemiGold Earth wasn't glassed; glassing is superheating the surface until it becomes a glass-like substance. Earth just melted. Also, an excerpt from Halopedia: [i]Subsequently, the atmosphere is covered with soot and ash thrown up from the initial impact, subjecting the planet to a nuclear winter. As the initial impact area cools, the surface is covered by extensive areas of molten soil, and is comparable to active volcanic sites in some parts of the world, on a larger scale depending on the extent.[b] The destructive process leaves the planet unable to recover to its former state. As a result of the destruction, the atmospheres of most planets have been known to boil away from the process[6], though not all planets suffered this, with the most notable exception being Reach.[/b][/i] The planet won't recover from the glassing. It's surface is permanently ruined. It's atmosphere is likely to boil away, but not neccessarily. Reach is probably an exception, because it was glassed in parts, while other regions were left untouched, so the Covenant could search for the Forerunner artifacts the planet hid. [/quote] Well it is possible the planet survived , ever watched Halo Legends? The Foreunners activated the Halo ring wiping out all sentient life , then the senitels recovered it all ... Maybe they could do the same for reach but this time with the organic life e.g. Grass , tree's and so on. Wondering where the senitels came from? They could come from deep inside the planets core , since there was alot of Foreunner artifacts in/on the planet , so maybe the planet could survive :D
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] subfocus45 is halo reach confirmed to be set before halo 1 evets yet?[/quote] yes but remember Reach and the Halo 1 event happened in weeks
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] subfocus45 is halo reach confirmed to be set before halo 1 evets yet?[/quote] The game takes place on Reach. Take a guess.
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I thought he... nevermind. You get it if you know what I'm talking about.
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subfocus, yes it is right before. there's a spoiler i know, but i wouldn't risk it. pm me if you want it
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well im sure with the technology that the UNSC has they can re-inhabit a planet fairly quickly. also im sure that the humans would have gained some technology from the Sangheili and other ex-covenenat factions after the war that would have made reforming reach possible
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DemiGold Earth wasn't glassed; glassing is superheating the surface until it becomes a glass-like substance. Earth just melted. Also, an excerpt from Halopedia: [i]Subsequently, the atmosphere is covered with soot and ash thrown up from the initial impact, subjecting the planet to a nuclear winter. As the initial impact area cools, the surface is covered by extensive areas of molten soil, and is comparable to active volcanic sites in some parts of the world, on a larger scale depending on the extent.[b] The destructive process leaves the planet unable to recover to its former state. As a result of the destruction, the atmospheres of most planets have been known to boil away from the process[6], though not all planets suffered this, with the most notable exception being Reach.[/b][/i] The planet won't recover from the glassing. It's surface is permanently ruined. It's atmosphere is likely to boil away, but not neccessarily. Reach is probably an exception, because it was glassed in parts, while other regions were left untouched, so the Covenant could search for the Forerunner artifacts the planet hid. [/quote] Actually your own excerpt helps the original guys posting. Your Halopedia thing states what happens to planets that get glassed then says how the most notable exception is Reach.
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Seeing as how Reach wasn't fully glassed theres a chance. But as for planets that do get fully glassed their doomed.
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is halo reach confirmed to be set before halo 1 evets yet?
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Most cases no, just think how delicate the eco system here is and global warming is like +3C and we are all gunna die, so if the surface temp goes to about 3000C+ then well... your pretty boned
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'the covenant missed a bit' is what sgt johnson said in first strike as the MC returned home after halo 1 but stopped at reach on the way to look for his spartan II's *book spoiler* he found them as the covenant missed a large area over reach so they could try and get an artifact of the spartans so yeah
