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Periodic Impact Cratering and Extinction Events Over the Last 260 Million YearsThe claims of periodicity in impact cratering and biological extinction events are controversial. Anewly revised record of dated impact craters has been analyzed for periodicity, and compared with the record of extinctions over the past 260 Myr. A digital circular spectral analysis of 37 crater ages (ranging in age from 15 to 254 Myr ago) yielded evidence for a significant 25.8 +/- 0.6 Myr cycle. Using the same method, we found a significant 27.0 +/- 0.7 Myr cycle in the dates of the eight recognized marine extinction events over the same period. The cycles detected in impacts and extinctions have a similar phase. The impact crater dataset shows 11 apparent peaks in the last 260 Myr, at least 5 of which correlate closely with significant extinction peaks. These results suggest that the hypothesis of periodic impacts and extinction events is still viable.
Document ID
20170001795
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Rampino, Michael R.
(New York Univ. New York, NY, United States)
Caldeira, Ken
(Carnegie Institution for Science Stanford, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
February 28, 2017
Publication Date
October 20, 2015
Publication Information
Publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Volume: 454
Issue: 4
ISSN: 0035-8711
e-ISSN: 1365-2966
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN29997
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
extinction
craters
periodic variations

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