PNAS: Very High Temperature Impact Melt Products: Evidence for Cosmic Airbursts/Impacts at Younger Dryas
Well, well. A cat just leapt from the bag. I don’t have an “as published” copy yet (despite being a co-author). But I will post one just as soon as I do. See here for UCSB Press...
Well, well. A cat just leapt from the bag.
I don’t have an “as published” copy yet (despite being a co-author). But I will post one just as soon as I do.
See here for UCSB Press Release: Study Jointly Led by UCSB Researcher Finds New Evidence Supporting Theory of Extraterrestrial Impact
These scientists have identified three contemporaneous levels more than 12,000 years ago, on two continents yielding siliceous scoria-like objects (SLO’s),” said H. Richard Lane, program director of National Science Foundation’s Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
“SLO’s are indicative of high-energy cosmic airbursts/impacts, bolstering the contention that these events induced the beginning of the Younger Dryas. That time was a major departure in biotic, human and climate history.
Cool video on the story from Slate:
The cause of the Younger Dryas cooling period has been very controversial. Some researchers have proposed an extraterrestrial impact and have produced evidence of the event, but others claim that the results have not been replicated. The new findings, reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, appear to provide that needed replication. — Thomas H. Maugh II, LA Times
