David Esker’s Buoyant Atmosphere Theory

I first came across David Esker‘s buoyant atmosphere theory back in 2017.

That was when I was developing my own theory, with an aim to explain how dinosaurs could have been as large as they were.

Explaining and “solving” the problem

David Esker does an excellent job of explaining the problem at hand. So, his theory is well worth a read. However, Esker comes to a strange conclusion.

He refuses to consider the possibility that gravity may have been weaker at the time of the dinosaurs. Instead, he suggests that Earth’s atmosphere was thicker and more buoyant in the past.

Then he goes on to congratulate himself on having solved all the mysteries related to the dinosaurs. But without mentioning that all these mysteries would also be solved if gravity was weaker.

No mechanism to explain the thick atmosphere

It would’ve been helpful if Esker provided us with a theory as to how Earth’s atmosphere could have been as thick as is had to be to explain the dinosaurs. But he doesn’t. Instead, he points to volcanic outgassing as a likely source of the thick atmosphere.

He also explains how gases can be compressed into liquids through industrial processes. He points out that hick atmospheres are not impossible.

However, he provides no mechanism to keep the thick atmosphere in place.

An atmosphere almost as thick as water

All of this could be forgiven if we were talking about a small difference in atmospheric density. But we’re not. We’re talking about a huge difference. So, we cannot tippy toe around the problem.

Stephen Hurrell, who is as passionate as Esker about the problems related to dinosaurs, has made some calculation that indicate that the largest dinosaurs were at least twice as big as gravity would allow for today. Maybe even as much as three to four times too big.

The most straight forward solution to this problem would be that gravity was somewhere between half and one quarter as strong as it is today.

However, to solve this problem with buoyancy, Earth’s atmosphere would’ve had to be at least half way towards being as buoyant as water. It would’ve had to be somewhere between 500 and 800 gram per liter at the time of the dinosaurs. That’s a whole lot more than the little over 1 gram per liter that it is today.

Conclusion

For David Esker’s buoyant atmosphere theory to work, atmospheric pressure would’ve had to be 500 to 800 times what it is today. But without any mechanism to explain this difference, Esker’s theory doesn’t seem plausible.