Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis Discussion Heats Up Again

Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis Discussion Heats Up Again

The discussion about the Younger Dryas Impact has
heated up again with a flurry of comments in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of
the United States of America concerning the paper:

Israde-Alcántara, I., J. L. Bischoff, G. Domínguez-Vázquezc,
H.-C. Li, P. S. DeCarli, T. E. Bunch, J. H. Wittkef, J. C. Weaver,
R. B. Firestone, A. West, J. P. Kennett, C. Mercer, S. Xie,
E. K. Richman, C. R. Kinzie, and w. S. Wolbach, 2012,
Evidence from central Mexico supporting the Younger
Dryas extraterrestrial impact hypothesis. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
of America. vol. 109, no. 13, pp. E738-E747
http://www.pnas.org/content/109/13/E738.abstract

The replies, which can be found at
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/recent , are

1. Blaauw, M., V. T. Holliday, J. L. Gill, and K. Nicoll, 2012,
Age models and the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis.
PNAS 2012 ; published ahead of print July 24, 2012.

2. Boslough, M., 2012, Inconsistent impact hypotheses
for the Younger Dryas. PNAS 2012 ; published ahead of
print July 24, 2012.

3. Daulton, T. L., 2012, Suspect cubic diamond “impact”
proxy and a suspect lonsdaleite identification. PNAS 2012 ;
published ahead of print July 24, 2012.

4. Gill, J. L. J. L. Blois, S. Goring, J. R. Marlon, P. J. Bartlein,
K. Nicoll, A. C. Scott, and C. Whitlock, 2012, Paleoecological
changes at Lake Cuitzeo were not consistent with an
extraterrestrial impact. PNAS 2012 ; published ahead of
print July 24, 2012.

and 5. Hardiman, M., A. C. Scott, M. E. Collinson, and R. S.
Anderson, 2012, Inconsistent redefining of the carbon
spherule “impact” proxy. PNAS 2012 ; published ahead
of print July 24, 2012.

The reply to the above comments, which is also at
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/recent , is:

Israde-Alcantara, I., J. L. Bischoff, P. S. DeCarli, G.
Domínguez-Vázquez, T. E. Bunch, R. B. Firestone,
J. P. Kennett, and A. West, 2012, Reply to Blaauw et al.,
Boslough, Daulton, Gill et al., and Hardiman et al.:
Younger Dryas impact proxies in Lake Cuitzeo,
Mexico. PNAS 2012 ; published ahead of print July
24, 2012.

A related paper is:

van Hoesel, A., W. Z. Hoek, F. Braadbaart, J. van der Plicht, G. M.
Pennocka, andM. R. Drurya, 2012, Nanodiamonds and wildfire
evidence in the Usselo horizon postdate the Allerød-Younger
Dryas boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America. vol. 109, no. 20,
pp. 7648-7653.
http://www.pnas.org/content/109/20/7648.abstract

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Meteorite Fragments Help Explain How Life Turned Left

Meteorite Fragments Help Explain How Life Turned Left

How Life Turned Left: Meteorite Fragments Help Explain Why
Living Things Only Use Molecules With Specific Orientations
ScienceDaily, July 25, 2012, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120725120706.htm

Origins of the Building Blocks for Life: Amino Acids and
Chirality by Jamie Elsila, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center, 2012 Santander Summer School
http://cab.inta-csic.es/uploads/culturacientifica/adjuntos/20120718114202.pdf

NASA Find A Clue To How Life Turned Left by Bill Steigerwald
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/life-turned-left.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-and-university-researchers-find-a-clue-to-how-life-turned-left-163740676.html

The paper is:

Glavin D. P., J. E. Elsila, A. S. Burton, J. P. Dworkin, R. W.
Hilts and C. D. K. Herd, 2012, Unusual non-terrestrial
L-proteinogenic amino acid excesses in the Tagish Lake
meteorite. Meteoritics & Planetary Science.

Best wishes,

Paul H.

New clues to the early Solar System from diogenites

New clues to the early Solar System from diogenites

New clues to the early Solar System from ancient
meteorites, PhysOrg., July 22, 2012
http://phys.org/news/2012-07-clues-early-solar-ancient-meteorites.html

New Clues to the Early Solar System from Ancient
Meteorites, ScienceDaily, July 22, 2012
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120722135204.htm
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/07/22/new.clues.early.solar.system.ancient.meteorites

Ancient diogenite study changes planet solidification
time frame. Examiner.com, July 22, 2012
http://www.examiner.com/article/ancient-diogenite-study-changes-planet-solidification-time-frame

The paper is:
Day, J. M. D., R. J. Walker, L. Qin and D. Rumble III
2012, Late accretion as a natural consequence of
planetary growth. Nature Geoscience. Published
online 22, July 2012, DOI:10.1038/ngeo1527
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo1527.html

Best wishes,
Paul H.

Display of Impact Crater Art (St. Helena Parish, Louisiana)

Display of Impact Crater Art (St. Helena Parish, Louisiana)

There is an exhibit of impact crater art, the Brushy Creek
Crater series" showing at the St Helena Parish (Louisiana)
Tourism Welcome Center on highway 10 from July 12,
2012 through August 30, 2012.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.411287408908565.82081.183147278389247&type=1

The artist is also selling "Flaming Rock" and "Camouflaged
Crater" T-Shirts based upon her paintings.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marshatheartist/183147278389247

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Curiosity Mars Landing on August 6, 2012

Curiosity Mars Landing on August 6, 2012

NASA scientists to feel '7 minutes of terror.'
Now you can too!, Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-7-seven-minutes-terror-kinect-xbox-game-mars-curiosity-msl-20120720,0,2146775.story

Spacewatch: Curiosity's terrifying arrival at
Mars, The Guardian, July 20, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jul/20/spacewatch-curiosity-mars-landing

Mars Curiosity Rover Is NASA's Biggest, Most
Advanced Space-Exploration Robot Ever by
Denise Chow, Huffington Post, July 20, 2102
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/mars-curiosity-rover-nasa-space-exploration_n_1690301.html

Space News: Curiosity nears daring landing
on Mars by Dr. Tony Phillips, July 21, 2012,
http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26055:-space-news-curiosity-nears-daring-landing-on-mars&catid=1:latest&Itemid=197

55 Years Ago, Disney Depicted the Curiosity
Rover's Mars Landing With Remarkable Accuracy
Rebecca J. Rosen, The Atlantic, July 19, 2012
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/55-years-ago-disney-depicted-the-curiosity-rovers-mars-landing-with-remarkable-accuracy/259642/

The Robot of the Future That's About to Explore
the Deep Past of Mars by Ross Anderson, The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/the-robot-of-the-future-thats-about-to-explore-the-deep-past-of-mars/258976/

Mars Science Laboratory
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Martian meteorites suggest Mars is wetter than previously thought

Martian meteorites suggest Mars is wetter than previously thought

Does Mars' interior hold huge reservoirs of water?
Martian meteorites say yes. (+video) (Some parts
of Mars' interior are as wet as that of Earth, a new
study finds.) Christian Science Monitor, June 25, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0625/Does-Mars-interior-hold-huge-reservoirs-of-water-Martian-meteorites-say-yes.-video

Martian meteorites suggest Mars is wetter than
previously thought, Brunsen Burner Blog, June 24, 2012
http://www.thebunsenburner.com/news/martian-meteorites-suggest-mars-is-wetter-than-previously-thought/

Mars Has "Oceans" of Water Inside? (And volcanoes
flooded early Mars with H2O, meteorite study hints.)
National Geographic News, June 26, 2012
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120626-mars-water-mantle-oceans-meteorites-space-science/

The paper is:

McCubbin, F. M., E. H. Hauri, S. M. Elardo, K. E.
Vander Kaaden, J. Wang, and C. K. Shearer Jr.,
2012, Hydrous melting of the martian mantle
produced both depleted and enriched
shergottites. Geology. First published online
June 15, 2012, doi: 10.1130/G33242.1
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2012/06/15/G33242.1.abstract

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Canadian Meteorite Research Victim of Budget Cuts

Canadian Meteorite Research Victim of Budget Cuts

Canada's cutting-edge meteorite research a
victim of budget cuts (Funding for research
tools and instruments from the NSERC will
end next fall) by Tom Spears, Postmedia
News, June 2, 2012
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Canada+cutting+edge+meteorite+research+victim+budget+cuts/6720710/story.html

and the Vancouver Sun at:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/technology/Canada+cutting+edge+meteorite+research+victim+budget+cuts/6720710/story.html

Is Canada lost in space? by Tom Spears
The Ottawa Citizen, April 29, 2012
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canada/6538084/story.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Fossils At New Jersey Site May Be From K/Pg (K/t) Extinction

Fossils At New Jersey Site May Be From K/Pg (K/t) Extinction

Mantua Township's Inversand site may be of national
importance to paleontologists by Jessica Driscoll,
Gloucestor County Times, June 28, 2012
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/06/mantua_townships_inversand_sit.html

Gallery: Fossils from the Cretaceous Period
unearthed at Inversand in Mantua, June 26, 2012
http://photos.nj.com/4641/gallery/062612fossils/index.html

Fossils at N.J. site may be from extinction day
by Jessica Driscoll, Gloucestor County Times
June 28, 2012, 3:58 PM
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Fossils_at_NJ_site_may_be_from_extinction_day.html?page=all
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Fossils_at_NJ_site_may_be_from_extinction_day.html

Best wishes,

Paul H.

June 30, 1908: The Tunguska Event

June 30, 1908: The Tunguska Event

June 30, 1908: The Tunguska Event by David Bressan
History of geology, Scientific American, June 30, 2012
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/2012/06/30/june-30-1908-the-tunguska-event/

Best wishes,

Paul H.