Asteroid Straight Through Earth

[Knuckledragger]

What would happen if a hypothetical asteroid was traveling so fast it punched a hole right through the earth with entry and exit holes in the oceans? Let's leave out the facts that it would end all earths life etc.. In this theory i'd like the the hole to be big but not too big, how does 1000 miles sound?

Okay so let's say it's done that and gone through so fast that all we felt is a large bang and a 7.6 richter scale aftershock or shudder, what would then happen? Would there be a tsunami on both sides? Would lava pour out nonstop and cover the the world, or would the sea pour in and react with the lava to seal the holes or would the lava boil the seas, turn to steam and boil everyone and thing in the atmosphere?

What would happen in your opinion in this scenario?

[modeller]

Yes you are right jim it is only an estimate and depends on many factors, probably the most important being the angle it enters our atmosphere.
None of them have been have actually reached earth in modern times.
The last one to almost do so, was the Tungusta event in 1908 , it was only 100m across , exploded in the air and destroyed 80 million trees over an area of 800 square miles.
The only large one which has been widely studied was the Chicxulub , Gulf of Mexico, which was 6 miles across and may have destroyed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. However even this object only penentrated the earths surface by about a mile.

[society]

So how deep earth?

[bert_h]

For Modeller: Yes, a lot of forest was flattened by the Tunguska airburst, but it is not usually counted as an impact, because there was no crater.

According to http://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase, our last three known impact events have been (1) Wabar, in the Empty Quarter of Arabia, about 1870, crater diameter 110 metres; (2) Sikhote Alin, at the northern end of the Sea of Japan, February 1947, crater diameter 20 metres; and (3) Carancas, southern end of Peru, September 2007, crater diameter 14 metres.

Even if an asteroid made a big hole into the mantle, lava wouldn't come pouring out, because it isn't under any pressure there except its own weight. It would just ooze out until it solidified. As for Knuckledragger's 'hole right through the earth', quite apart from the energy needed to create it, where on earth (or rather whereabouts off the earth) would the material from the hole have gone? I think that if the asteroid was too big and/or too fast to be slowed down, its impact would be generating enough heat to melt it, so it would lose its penetrative power that way instead.