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Cretaceous extinctions - Evidence for wildfires and search for meteoritic materialThe results of analyses of the contents of deposits in the Cretaceous-Ternary (K-T) transition at three sites worldwide are discussed. The study was undertaken to examine the composition of the object which may have struck the earth, causing widespread biotic extinction. The data indicate that most of the parent body was destroyed on impact, a condition which would also hold true for comets, suggesting that comets were not a source of prebiotic life. A four-orders-of-magnitude excess of carbon in the K-T layer is considered in terms of its source, which is suspected to be deposits from wildfires. The consequent extinctions of species are regarded as possibly making the current nuclear winter scenarios too optimistic.
Document ID
19860027066
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wolbach, W. S.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Lewis, R. S.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Anders, E.
(Chicago, University IL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
October 11, 1985
Publication Information
Publication: Science
Volume: 230
ISSN: 0036-8075
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
86A11804
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF EAR-82-12355
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG9-52
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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