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A Unified Theory of Impact Crises and Mass Extinctions: Quantitative TestsSeveral quantitative tests of a general hypothesis linking impacts of large asteroids and comets with mass extinctions of life are possible based on astronomical data, impact dynamics, and geological information. The waiting of large-body impacts on the Earth derive from the flux of Earth-crossing asteroids and comets, and the estimated size of impacts capable of causing large-scale environmental disasters, predict that impacts of objects greater than or equal to 5 km in diameter (greater than or equal to 10 (exp 7) Mt TNT equivalent) could be sufficient to explain the record of approximately 25 extinction pulses in the last 540 Myr, with the 5 recorded major mass extinctions related to impacts of the largest objects of greater than or equal to 10 km in diameter (greater than or equal to 10(exp 8) Mt Events). Smaller impacts (approximately 10 (exp 6) Mt), with significant regional environmental effects, could be responsible for the lesser boundaries in the geologic record.
Document ID
19970030231
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Rampino, Michael R.
(NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY United States)
Haggerty, Bruce M.
(New York Univ. New York, NY United States)
Pagano, Thomas C.
(New York Univ. New York, NY United States)
Date Acquired
August 17, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Volume: 822
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
97N28237
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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