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Argentine Impact and Extinctions
- To: Meteorite List <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
- Subject: Argentine Impact and Extinctions
- From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli@lehrer1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>
- Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 21:17:34 +0100
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- Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 15:29:58 -0500 (EST)
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ASTRONOMY NOW, March 1999, p. 6, News Update:
Did Argentine impact cause extinctions?
According to a recent report in Science, a previously unknown impact may
he linked to the disappearance of 35 species of mammals and a flightless
bird in Argentina. The research was carried out by an
Argentinean-American team of scientists who studied an 18-mile-long
narrow layer of greenish glass and red-brick-like materials in the
coastal cliffs of S.E. Argentina. The slabs of glass, called escoria,
are scattered across at least 50 km of coast.
The team believe they mark the site of an ancient impact-related
explosion. It is presumed that a 1 km meteorite struck just offshore,
producing a now-buried crater perhaps 20 km in diameter.
While the impact is widely accepted, the extinction theory is much more
controversial. Even principal investigator Peter Schultz, from Brown
University admits, "Right now we only regard this as a coincidence."
Best regards,
Bernd
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