Earth's Resilience to Massive Asteroid Impacts 35 Million Ye

[patricjfrenn]

Two enormous asteroids struck Earth roughly 35.65 million years ago, creating massive craters but leaving no lasting impact on the planet's climate, according to a study by UCL researchers. These findings, published in Communications Earth & Environment, challenge assumptions about the long-term effects of such catastrophic events.

The asteroids, each spanning several miles in width, impacted Earth about 25,000 years apart. One created the 60-mile-wide Popigai crater in Siberia, while the other formed a 25–55-mile-wide crater in Chesapeake Bay, USA. These craters rank as the fourth and fifth largest known on Earth.

To investigate whether these impacts caused long-term climate changes, researchers analyzed isotopes in fossils of tiny shelled organisms called foraminifera. These creatures lived in oceans during that era, and the isotopic patterns in their shells reveal past water temperatures.

Professor Bridget Wade of UCL Earth Sciences explained, "What’s remarkable is that we found no significant climate shifts following the impacts. The isotopes didn’t indicate warmer or cooler waters, suggesting the planet's climate remained stable over the long term."

However, Wade noted that the study’s resolution, with samples spaced 11,000 years apart, wouldn’t detect short-term changes spanning decades or centuries. Over human timescales, these asteroid collisions would have caused catastrophic tsunamis, shockwaves, fires, and atmospheric dust, potentially blocking sunlight for extended periods.

By contrast, the Chicxulub impact, which caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs, is believed to have triggered a brief but dramatic climate shift lasting less than 25 years.

The research team, which included MSc Geosciences student Natalie Cheng, analyzed over 1,500 fossil samples from a rock core beneath the Gulf of Mexico, dating from 35.5 to 35.9 million years ago. They examined isotopes in both surface-dwelling planktonic foraminifera and seafloor-dwelling benthic foraminifera.

Their findings reveal a slight warming of about 2°C in surface waters and a cooling of 1°C in deep waters roughly 100,000 years before the impacts. However, no significant isotope shifts were detected during or after the asteroid events.

http://www.akvarijum.org/forum/galaxy-c ... 28224.html
http://www.akvarijum.org/forum/white-dw ... 28225.html
https://melds.eu/blogs/11449/Massive-Do ... y-Universe
https://melds.eu/blogs/11450/Unveiling- ... c-Facelift
https://brickandbeamdetroit.com/questio ... evelopment
https://brickandbeamdetroit.com/questio ... y-ngc-1052
https://www.retroskoter.com/viewtopic.php?t=17493
https://www.retroskoter.com/viewtopic.php?t=17494
https://www.consolefun.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44718
https://www.consolefun.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44719
https://forum.heroes-centrum.com/viewto ... =1&t=49317
https://forum.heroes-centrum.com/viewto ... =1&t=49318
https://cupef.org/blogs/488/World-s-Sma ... le-Imaging
https://cupef.org/blogs/489/Nobel-Prize ... try-and-AI
https://www.thekgh.org/forum/breakthrou ... processing
https://www.thekgh.org/forum/improving- ... d-movement
https://forum.czech.farm/d/328-ai-gains ... technology
https://forum.czech.farm/d/329-ai-enhan ... n-research
https://www.naacp-lowerrichland.org/for ... l-research
https://www.naacp-lowerrichland.org/for ... adio-waves
https://www.gooalsocial.com/blogs/view/ ... s-research
https://www.gooalsocial.com/blogs/view/ ... tion-study
https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=1341031
https://blog.spacehey.com/entry?id=1341035
https://sabaylok.com/blogs/18941/Unrave ... ust-Storms
https://sabaylok.com/blogs/18942/Resolv ... a-Centauri
https://musescore.org/es/node/373216
https://musescore.org/es/node/373217
https://management.org/forum/threads/re ... ystems.57/
https://management.org/forum/threads/in ... esight.58/
https://forum.shmupemall.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3127
https://forum.shmupemall.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3128
https://ps2onlinegaming.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2827
https://ps2onlinegaming.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2828
http://www.akvarijum.org/forum/breakthr ... 28226.html
https://melds.eu/blogs/11468/Exploring- ... -Neutrinos
https://brickandbeamdetroit.com/questio ... l-galaxies
https://www.retroskoter.com/viewtopic.php?t=17495
https://www.consolefun.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44722



The study also highlighted evidence of three smaller asteroid impacts during the late Eocene epoch, suggesting heightened activity in the solar system's asteroid belt.

Previous research into the climate effects of these events had produced inconclusive results, linking them alternately to cooling or warming. The current study, by examining fossils from various ocean depths, offers a more comprehensive view of the ocean’s response to these impacts.

Professor Wade emphasized the importance of continued research and planetary defense initiatives: "While these findings show Earth’s climate can recover from large impacts over millennia, it’s critical to understand and prevent future asteroid collisions, which could have devastating consequences on human timescales."