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Mass Extinctions, Comet Impacts, and The Galaxy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

Michael R. Rampino  and
Richard B. Stothers
Michael R. Rampino
Affiliation:
NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, 10025 USA and Earth & Environmental Science Program, New York University, New York, New York, 10003 USA
Richard B. Stothers
Affiliation:
NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, 10025 USA

Abstract

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The hypothesis relating mass extinctions of life on Earth to impacts of comets whose flux is partly modulated by the dynamics of the Milky Way Galaxy contains a number of postulates that can be tested by geologic evidence and statistical analyses. In an increasing number of cases, geologic evidence for impact (widespread impact debris and/or large impact craters) is found at times of mass extinction events, and the record of dated impact craters has been found to show a significant correlation with mass extinctions. Statistical analyses suggest that mass extinction events exhibit a periodic component of about 26 to 30 Myr, and periodicities of 30± 0.5 Myr and 35 ±2 Myr have been extracted from sets of well-dated impact craters. The evidence is consistent with periodic or quasi-periodic showers of impactors, probably Oort Cloud comets, with an approximately 30-Myr cycle. The best explanation for these proposed quasi-periodic comet showers involves the Sun’s vertical oscillation through the galactic disk, which may have a similar cycle time between crossings of the galactic plane.

Type
II. Joint Discussions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 11 , Issue 1: Highlights of Astronomy. As presented at the XXIIIrd General Assembly of the IAU (Part A), 1997 , 1998 , pp. 246 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1998

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