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 […]
Impact events
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 […]
Posted inExtinction events, Impact events, Press Release
End-Cretaceous Cooling and Mass Extinction Driven by a Dark Cloud Encounter
We have identified iridium in an ~5 m-thick section of pelagic sediment cored in the deep sea floor at Site 886C, in addition to a distinct spike in iridium at […]
Posted inImpact events
Giant Impacts on Earth-like Worlds
The late stages of terrestrial planet formation are dominated by giant impacts that collectively influence the growth, dynamical stability, composition and habitability of any planets that form. Hitherto, numerical models […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Press Release
Detectability of Planetesimal Impacts on Giant Exoplanets
The detectability of planetesimal impacts on imaged exoplanets can be measured using Jupiter during the 1994 comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 events as a proxy. By integrating the whole planet flux with […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
Meteorite Impacts Can Create DNA Building Blocks
A new study shown that meteorite impacts on ancient oceans may have created nucleobases and amino acids. Researchers from Tohoku University, National Institute for Materials Science and Hiroshima University discovered […]