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Testing the hypothesis of an extraterrestrial impact ...

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Testing the hypothesis of an extraterrestrial impact around 12,900 years ago as a cause of megafaunal extinctions and the decline of the Clovis culture

Name:Personal
Hilman, Ilene Role :Text(marcrelator)
creator

Name:Personal
Surovell, Dr. Todd Role :Text(marcrelator)
contributor

typeOfResource
still image genre
Origin Information Place
Laramie, Wyoming
University of Wyoming (keyDate="yes")
2009-05-14

Language:Text
eng

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born digtal

abstract
Near the end of the last ice age, a number of large mammalian genera disappeared from North America during a drastically colder period known as the Younger Dryas. In 2007, Richard Firestone, Jim Kennett, Allen West, and others proposed that the Younger Dryas was triggered by an extraterrestrial (ET) impact. They purport that a comet exploded/impacted the North American glacial ice sheets approximately 12,900 years ago. Dust, soot, and smoke lowered temperatures, leading to megafaunal extinctions and the decline of the Clovis archaeological culture. Evidence for the ET event comes from carbon-rich layers across North America containing magnetic grains rich in iridium, titano-magnetite microspherules, charcoal, soot, carbon spherules, glass-like carbon containing nanodiamonds, and fullerenes with helium. Firestone et al found that soil samples from the Younger Dryas boundary contained one or more of these markers in concentrations well above background. Dr. Todd Surovell, Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, Dr. Vance Holliday, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, and this author tested samples from Lubbock Lake, Texas and San Jon, New Mexico. The samples did not exhibit significant differences between the Younger Dryas stratum and surrounding strata. This study does not support the existence of an extraterrestrial event. note
From - Undergraduate Research Day 2009 - Celebration of Research - Abstracts
Subject
Younger Dryas

Subject
megafaunal extinction theories

Subject
Clovis culture

Related Item:series Title Information
Undergrauate Research Day 2009

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http://digital.uwyo.edu/copyright.htm
Record Information languageOfCataloging :Text(ISO639-2B)
English :Code(ISO639-2B)
eng