New evidence suggests that a comet explosion over Earth around 13,000 years ago caused the Younger Dryas cooling period, leading to mass extinctions and the disappearance of the Clovis culture, supported by impact markers like shocked quartz and nanodiamonds found at archaeological sites.
A new study suggests that a comet impact may have triggered the Younger Dryas cooling period 12,800 years ago, supported by geochemical evidence from ocean sediment cores, though skepticism remains among scientists.
Scientists found evidence of a comet explosion 12,800 years ago in ocean sediments near Greenland, supporting the hypothesis that this event triggered the Younger Dryas cooling period, a rapid and significant climate change that affected global ecosystems and human populations.
Tiny metallic beads found in Arctic mud suggest a comet impact may have triggered the abrupt climate change during the Younger Dryas period, challenging the traditional meltwater hypothesis and indicating a possible extraterrestrial influence on Earth's climate history.
New evidence suggests that tiny particles from a disintegrating comet may have caused the abrupt climate cooling during the Younger Dryas event over 12,000 years ago, indicating a possible impact winter that contributed to the rapid temperature drop.
New research supports the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis, suggesting a fragmented comet caused significant climatic changes and extinctions 12,800 years ago through airbursts. Evidence includes impact proxies like platinum and shocked quartz found in the eastern U.S., indicating high-pressure, high-temperature events. These findings suggest the comet's airbursts led to abrupt climate shifts and the extinction of megafauna, impacting human cultures like the Clovis.
New research suggests that a comet impact around 13,000 years ago triggered a dramatic climate change, leading to the disappearance of plants and animals relied upon by hunter-gatherer communities. The impact, which caused shockwaves and a massive firestorm, is believed to have sparked the first seeds of agriculture in Syria as a necessary adaptation for survival. Sediment layers from the Neolithic site Abu Hureyra, known for its early evidence of the shift from hunting-gathering to farming, revealed changes in architecture, diet, and the cultivation of domestic-type grains and legumes. The studies also identified shock-fractured quartz grains and evidence of a massive firestorm, supporting the hypothesis that a cosmic impact caused the Younger Dryas period of climate change.
Archaeologists have refuted the claim that a comet destroyed the ancient Indigenous Hopewell culture around 1,500 years ago. A study led by Dr. Kenneth Tankersley claimed evidence of a cosmic airburst at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites, but a review by Dr. Kevin C. Nolan and other experts found the evidence to be inadequate. They argue that the burned surfaces identified by Tankersley's team were either ceremonial burnings or not burned surfaces at all. The presence of meteorites and microspherules were likely brought to the sites by ancient Indigenous peoples for ceremonial purposes, and the available radiocarbon dates do not support the claim of a comet impact. The decline of the Hopewell culture was attributed to social and religious changes rather than a catastrophic event.