We examine the mechanisms by which atmosphere can be eroded by giant impacts onto Earth-like planets with thin atmospheres, using 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations with sufficient resolution to directly […]
Impact event
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Creation and Evolution of Impact-generated Reduced Atmospheres of Early Earth
The origin of life on Earth seems to demand a highly reduced early atmosphere, rich in CH4, H2, and NH3, but geological evidence suggests that Earth’s mantle has always been […]
Posted inExtinction events, Press Release
Did An Extraterrestrial Impact Trigger The Extinction Of Ice-age Animals?
A controversial theory that suggests an extraterrestrial body crashing to Earth almost 13,000 years ago caused the extinction of many large animals and a probable population decline in early humans […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Susceptibility of Planetary Atmospheres to Mass Loss and Growth by Planetesimal Impacts: the Impact Shoreline
This paper considers how planetesimal impacts affect planetary atmospheres. Atmosphere evolution depends on the ratio of gain from volatiles to loss from atmosphere stripping f_v; for constant bombardment, atmospheres with […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Impact Bombardment Chronology of the Terrestrial Planets From 4.5 Ga to 3.5 Ga
Subsequent to the Moon’s formation, late accretion to the terrestrial planets modified their silicate crusts and mantles. We combine dynamical N-body and Monte Carlo simulations to determine impact probabilities, impact […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Gigantic Asteroid Collision Boosted Biodiversity On Earth
An international study led by researchers from Lund University in Sweden has found that a collision in the asteroid belt 470 million years ago created drastic changes to life on […]
Posted inImpact events
Ocean Drilling Perspectives on Meteorite Impacts
Extraterrestrial impacts are a ubiquitous process in the solar system, reshaping the surface of rocky bodies of all sizes. On early Earth, impact structures may have been a nursery for […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
New Fallout From The Collision That Changed The World
When the landmass that is now the Indian subcontinent slammed into Asia about 50 million years ago, the collision changed the configuration of the continents, the landscape, global climate and […]
Posted inImpact events
66-million-year-old Deathbed Linked to Dinosaur-killing Meteor
The beginning of the end started with violent shaking that raised giant waves in the waters of an inland sea in what is now North Dakota. Then, tiny glass beads […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Diversification After Mass Extinction
A team led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich paleontologist Adriana López-Arbarello has identified three hitherto unknown fossil fish species in the Swiss Alps, which provide new insights into the diversification […]