The Comet Research Group and I developed this presentation on the Younger Dryas Impact. I have long thought such a show should be made "open source" so any interested science geek could give the presentation to a local astronomy or geology club, rotary, classroom, or whomever you like. Or, to just to review the subject in a linear graphical nature by yourself.
The YDI is multifaceted and multidisciplinary theory which requires a large amount of information and graphics needed to present properly. Frankly it is very hard to develop a single all inclusive presentation on the subject. I'd like to think this effort is the current state of the art, so to speak.
It should be modified and improved as the evidence for the cataclysm continues to pile up. And I welcome your suggestions for modification and improvement. But for now, have at it, and let me know what you think. I plan to "annotate" it when I have the time.
Please note I have also uploaded a somewhat more up to date but abbreviated presentation on this site. They will be combined at some point.
2. The well accepted “Mysteries”
• What happened to America’s Clovis people?
• What happened to all the cool, giant mammals?
• What caused the flood (mythical and actual)?
• Why did we change so dramatically 13,000 years ago?
2
18. Black mat (12.9 ka)
“Eloise” the Mammoth;
bones stained black by
mat
Extinction layer; no in
situ bones or Clovis
artifacts
in mat or above at 50
sites
Impact markers cover the
bones just below the mat
One of last mammoths?
39. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Magnetic Spherules
Magnetic Grains
Iridium
Carbon Spherules
Glass-like Carbon
Nanodiamonds
Fullerenes+He-3
Charcoal+Soot+PAHs
13/15
20/20
10/13
18/22
24/24
14/14
4/4
22/24
Extraterrestrial Markers in the YDB Layer (26 sites)
13/15
20/20
10/13
18/22
24/24
4/4
22/24
14/14
>Background
>20,000 times
40
40. • Marker abundances increase
toward Eastern Canada.
• Focus of the YD Impact
Event:
airburst/ impacts in
Canada,
in/ over Laurentide Ice
Sheet.
41. (1)Human Overkill
(2)Climate Change
(3)Pandemic Disease
(4)The YD Impact
Seems plausible; humans are known to have caused
extinctions.
1) Overkill Theory: the Clovis people hunted them to
extinction,
because the animals
had no fear of man.
Possible Causes for the Extinctions
44. Considerable debate for N America; no
resolution…
Asia: Megafauna hunted there for
millennia
Did Clovis people kill 5% or 100%?
Familiar with man, yet went extinct
there, too.
Overkill
45. Source: Sher et al. (2003) 3rd International Mammoth Conference, Yukon
Territory, Canada.
Dates on mammoth, horse and bison from the Siberian
Arctic.
Siberian Extinctions
46. Source: Sher et al. (2003) 3rd International Mammoth Conference, Yukon Territory, Canada.
Dates on mammoth, horse and bison from the Siberian
Arctic.
Siberian Extinctions
48. 202 Dated Mammoth Sites
(1) Mammoth sites plotted by Viacheslav Gusiakov, Head, Tsunami Laboratory, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Taken from Kuzmin & Orlova. (2004). Earth Science Reviews, 68, pp. 133-169.
Siberian Extinctions
49. 202 Dated Mammoth Sites
117 Dated Paleolithic
Sites
Only 1 Clovis-aged sites in extreme northern
Siberia.
Yet, animals went extinct there, too.
What caused extinctions if NO HUNTERS?
(1)Mammoth sites plotted by Viacheslav Gusiakov, Head, Tsunami Laboratory, Russian Academy of
Sciences.
Taken from Kuzmin & Orlova. (2004). Earth Science Reviews, 68, pp. 133-169.
Siberian Extinctions
50. but could they
have been the
only cause?
What about
Climate?
(2) Climate change
theory claims:
Humans likely
contributed to the
extinctions…
as the Younger
Dryas began,
the return to
near-glacial
temperatures
killed the
animals.
51. According to Greenland ice core
data, the Younger Dryas began
~12.9 ka ago.
Temperatures dropped quickly
>10 deg. C (18 deg. F).
Imagine if average temps in the
U.S. dropped 10 degrees C and
stayed there for more than 1000
years.
Typical solution: animals
migrate and go extinct locally
but not globally.
YD Cooling
52. Age (ka)
Each past ice age
was a long cooling
followed by brief
warming.
Many ice ages, each
~100,000 years
NO PREVIOUS
EXTINCTIONS
So, extinctions NOT
caused by CLIMATE
Petit et al., 1999
At the start of each
ice age, temperatures
plunged.
Temperature drops more
severe than YD, but
no waves of
extinctions.
YD Impact
Problem with the climate theory…
Antarctica, 400,000 Years of Temperatures
53. but what about humans?
not the only factor in the
extinctions,
but it was a major one:
1) massive explosions
2) intense firestorms
3) habitat destruction
4) toxic chemicals
5) sudden climate change
affecting animals and plants….
Impact Event as Cause
54. Comparison of Clovis to post-Clovis points
(aka ‘Redstones’)
Redstone point Clovis point distribution
South Carolina: Clovis
Complex
South Carolina: Redstones
100s of Clovis
points
Very few
Redstones
Points as Population Proxies
55. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
12500 12700 12900 13100 13300
Ratio:
Clovis
to
Redstone
Calendar Years BP
Points Ratio: Clovis to
Redstone
VA
SC
NC
After 12.9 ka in
SC, NC, & VA
Human population
decline of 60-80%
Recently has been
extended across
most of eastern U.S.
Redstone Clovis
Points and Population
59. Numerous fragments of a comet
Dust-sized to 2 km wide
A few ice craters
Tunguska-like airbursts
Widespread canopy of fire
Intense continental
firestorms
High-temperature shock waves
Impactor hypothesis
