Meteorite storm triggered climate change?

The Hindu , Friday, June 15, 2012
Correspondent :
Gulp!Mammoths and sloths are amongst the species that might have been wiped outPhoto: The Hindu

Scientists claim to have found new compelling evidence that suggests a meteorite storm hit the Earth more than 12,000 years ago which might have caused the extinction of a prehistoric civilisation and giant animals including mammoths and ground sloths.

A team of researchers found a substance known as melt-glass, which forms at temperatures of 1,700 to 2,200 degrees Celsius and can result from a “cosmic body” hitting the earth.

The researchers believe the huge cosmic impact triggered a vicious cold snap, which caused widespread destruction.

The material was unearthed in a thin layer of rock in Pennsylvania and South Carolina in the US and in Syria. Tests confirmed the material was not of cosmic, volcanic or man-made origin.

The melt-glass seems identical to other material found in Meteor Crater in Arizona, and the Australasian tektite field, and also matches melt-glass produced by the 1945 Trinity nuclear airburst in New Mexico, Prof Kennett said.

The team's findings support the controversial theory that an asteroid impact some 12,900 years ago triggered the start of an unusual cold period on Earth, leading to the mass extinction of human and animal life.

In the cold period, known as the Younger Dryas, North American megafauna disappeared forever, along with a prehistoric civilisation called the Clovis people, regarded as the first human inhabitants of the New World.

 
SOURCE : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/article3529786.ece
 


Back to pevious page



The NetworkAbout Us  |  Our Partners  |  Concepts   
Resources :  Databases  |  Publications  |  Media Guide  |  Suggested Links
Happenings :  News  |  Events  |  Opinion Polls  |  Case Studies
Contact :  Guest Book  |  FAQs |  Email Us