Do mass extinctions, like the fall of the dinosaurs, and the formation of large impact craters on Earth occur together at regular intervals? “This question has been under discussion for […]
Impact events
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
A Tale of Clusters: No Resolvable Periodicity in the Terrestrial Impact Cratering Record
Rampino & Caldeira (2015) carry out a circular spectral analysis (CSA) of the terrestrial impact cratering record over the past 260 million years (Ma), and suggest a ~26 Ma periodicity […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
How Darkness and Cold Killed the Dinosaurs
66 million years ago, the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs started the ascent of the mammals, ultimately resulting in humankind’s reign on Earth. Climate scientists now reconstructed how tiny droplets […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Asteroid Impacts Could Create Habitats For Life
Scientists studying the Chicxulub crater have shown how large asteroid impacts deform rocks in a way that may produce habitats for early life. Around 65 million years ago a massive […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Extraterrestrial Impact Preceded Ancient Global Warming Event
A comet strike may have triggered the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a rapid warming of the Earth caused by an accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide 56 million years ago, which […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Dinosaurs Done In By An Impact Event and volcanoes
A new reconstruction of Antarctic ocean temperatures around the time the dinosaurs disappeared 66 million years ago supports the idea that one of the planet’s biggest mass extinctions was due […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Impact events, Mars, Press Release
Ancient Tsunami Evidence on Mars Reveals Life Potential
The geologic shape of what were once shorelines through Mars’ northern plains convinces scientists that two large meteorites – hitting the planet millions of years apart – triggered a pair […]
Posted inComets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life
Melting Pots for Life on Earth
Geochemists from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Natural Sciences may have found a solution to a long-debated problem as to where – and how – life first formed on Earth. […]
Posted inImpact events, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life
Early Mars Bombardment Likely Enhanced Life-supporting Habitat
The bombardment of Mars some 4 billion years ago by comets and asteroids as large as West Virginia likely enhanced climate conditions enough to make the planet more conducive to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Impact events
Rethinking a Geologic Indicator for Impact Events
A new study brings into question the use of the molecule fullerene as a geologic indicator of impact events on ancient Earth. Fullerene is a form of carbon found in […]