COSMIC COMPONENT DISCOVERED IN BEDOUT BRECCIA
Luann Becker et al., Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVII (2006)
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2006/pdf/2321.pdfET Extraterrestrial Chromium at the Graphite Peak P/Tr boundary and in the
Bedout Impact Melt Breccia
Luann Becker 1), Alex Shukolyukov 2), Chris Macassic 2), Guenter Lugmair 2), and
Robert
Poreda 3)
1) University of California Santa Barbara, Dept. of Geology, Santa Barbara, CA,
93106
lbecker@crustal.ucsb.edu
2) Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, San
Diego
CA, 92093;
3) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester,
Rochester New
York 14627
Introduction: Any major impact structure should include an extraterrestrial
chemical signature such as platinum group elements (PGEs). The concentration of
iridium (Ir) and other noble metals in K/T boundary sediments worldwide was key
to the interpretation that an impact (asteroidal or cometary) occurred 65 myr
ago (1,2). For instance, some researchers have argued
that excess Ir and noble metals can be explained by enhanced volcanic activity
(3). Extensive volcanism could provide a transport of mantle-derived metals
that, like meteorites, have high concentrations of noble metals. However, the
discovery of the Chicxulub crater, coincident with the K/T boundary suggests an
ET source for Ir and noble gas metals in K/T sediments worldwide.
Several isotopic systems have also been used to search for an ET signature in
K/T boundary sediments (e.g. osmium), the most diagnostic being the chromium
(Cr) isotopic systematics (i.e. unlike osmium, Cr isotope values cannot be
confused with terrestrial signatures;(4). Isotopic compositions of Cr in several
K/T boundary sediments indicate an ET signature that is consistent with a
carbonaceous-type impactor. Thus, chromium isotopes not only make a good ET
signature, but it can also serve as a diagnostic tool for determining the type
of impactor that collided with the Earth. This method has also been applied to
Archaen impact deposits, impact melt samples and Late Eocene deposits (5).
Graphite Results: We have now measured the Cr isotopes in some of the isolated
magnetic fractions (MF) found in the Graphite Peak P/Tr boundary. Our group and
others have reported on the detection of Fe-Ni-Si-rich metal grains and impact
spherules that accompany the meteorite fragments in the Graphite Peak P/Tr
boundary section (6,7). We studied the Cr isotopic composition in the bulk
magnetic fraction (MF) for Graphite peak (8). The concentrations of major and
minor elements in the bulk MF are surprisingly similar to chondritic, with the
exception of Ca. The isotopic data in Table 1 are presented in epsilon (?)
units, where 1? is 1 part in 10^4 and terrestrial ratios of 53Cr/52Cr are
defined as ? = 0. For high precision, in our method of data reduction we use a
'second order' mass fractionation correction based on the 54Cr/52Cr ratio (9).
This correction assumes no excess or deficit of 54Cr, which is the case for most
meteorite classes. Carbonaceous chondrites, however, have excess 54Cr causing
second order corrected ?(53) values to be negative. This is a convenient and
precise way to distinguish carbonaceous chondrites from the other meteorite
classes. Bulk MF reveals a clearly non-terrestrial Cr isotopic signature:
?(53)corr= -0.13 ±0.04? and falls outside the range of previously studied
carbonaceous chondrites ( -0.3 - to -0.4?). In other words, this isotopic
signature has never been measured before and cannot be attributed to
contamination. The most striking feature is the presence of a large excess of
54Cr in the MF residue: ?(54)raw= +8.10±0.78? (the subscript 'raw' designates
that the second order fractionation correction has not been applied). 54Cr
excesses of a comparable magnitude have been reported in the acid resistant
residues of CI and CM chondrites. It is important to note, however, that the
?(54)raw in the MF residue is intermediate between values measured in the Ivuna
(+13.2±0.20?) and Murchison (+5.35±0.29?) meteorites.
Prelimary results on Bedout: We have also evaluated the chromium isotopic
compositions in the
Bedout impact melt breccia. Previous investigations of the Yax-1 and Yucatan-6
cores have indicated only slightly elevated levels of chromium and iridium
despite the elevated levels found in some K/T boundary sediments (10,11). This
may be due to the nature of the samples (e.g. bulk powders containing an
abundance of crustal material that would greatly dilute the ET signature). In
order to concentrate a potential cosmic component for the Bedout breccia, we
applied a differential dissolution. A 10-gram sample of Bedout breccia was first
treated with HF. The residue was additionally treated with an HF/HNO3 mixture at
room temperature. This dissolution procedure left behind a minute (a few ?g)
acid-resistant residue enriched in Cr. This residue was dissolved in an HF/HNO3
mixture at 180°C in a bomb. The Bedout residue revealed an extraterrestrial Cr
isotopic composition. The corrected (see above) 53Cr/54Cr ratio is ~ -0.25?.
More measurements are underway to confirm this result, however, it appears that
a cosmic component has been detected in the Bedout breccia. This Bedout value
differs slightly from the Graphite Peak value, probably due to our method of
concentrating the Crbearing component in the acid-resistant residue, which is
enriched in a meteoritic chromite-spinel phase. The apparent deficit of 53Cr in
the Bedout breccia implies a carbonaceous chondrite projectile and is consistent
with the data obtained earlier for the Graphite Peak P/Tr sediments. If these
data are confirmed then the previous measurements of the Graphite P/Tr sediments
can be directly linked to the Bedout structure.
=============
(2) THE BEDOUT STRUCTURE
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BedoutBedout or Bedout High, (pronounced "Bedoo") is about 25 km off the northwestern
coast of Australia in the Roebuck basin. It is a large circular depression in
the ocean basin approximately 200 km across, with a central uplift that is a
distinguishing feature of impact craters (see Chesapeake Bay impact crater for
comparison). It was noted in 1996 by Australian geologist John Gorter of Agip in
currently submerged continental crust off the northwestern shore of Australia.
The geology of the area of continental shelf dates to the end of the Permian.
Some scientists speculate that Bedout might be the result of a large bolide
impact event that occurred around 250 million years ago; a large impact event
during that time frame, incurring other factors, could account for the
Permian-Triassic extinction event. Geologist Luann Becker, of the University of
California, found shocked quartz and brecciated mudstones and other
mineralogical evidence of impact conditions at the site [1]. Several
Permian-Triassic boundary sites have produced evidence of impact material prior
to the Bedout discovery: shocked quartz from sites in Antarctica and Australia,
glassy spherules at sites in China and Japan, fullerenes with evidence of
extra-terrestrial gases in P-Tr sites in Japan and southern China (Becker et al,
2001).
Sediment samples appear to match the date of the extinction event. The Bedout
impact crater is also associated in time with extreme volcanism and the break-up
of Pangea. "We think that mass extinctions may be defined by catastrophes like
impact and volcanism occurring synchronously in time," Dr. Becker explains.
"This is what happened 65 million years ago at Chicxulub but was largely
dismissed by scientists as merely a coincidence. With the discovery of Bedout, I
don't think we can call such catastrophes occurring together a coincidence
anymore," Dr. Becker added in a news release [2].
Significant erosion has affected the structure, and differences in subsidence
have tilted it. Skeptics contend that the shape of the depression is
inconsistent with bolide impacts; instead, the depression might be explained by
other scenarios, such as an oddity in the earth's structure. In addition,
iridium anomalies, a feature associated with other massive bolide impacts, have
not been found. Continuing research could yield more clues in the years to come.
===============
(3) THE GREAT DYING
Science@Nasa, 28 January 2002
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/28jan_extinction.htm250 million years ago something unknown wiped out most life on our planet. Now
scientists are finding buried clues to the mystery inside tiny capsules of
cosmic gas.
Some perpetrator -- or perpetrators -- committed murder on a scale unequaled in
the history of the world. They left few clues to their identity, and they buried
all the evidence under layers and layers of earth.
The case has gone unsolved for years -- 250 million years, that is.
But now the pieces are starting to come together, thanks to a team of
NASA-funded sleuths who have found the "fingerprints" of the villain, or at
least of one of the accomplices
The terrible event had been lost in the amnesia of time for eons. It was only
recently that paleontologists, like hikers stumbling upon an unmarked grave in
the woods, noticed a startling pattern in the fossil record: Below a certain
point in the accumulated layers of earth, the rock shows signs of an ancient
world teeming with life. In more recent layers just above that point, signs of
life all but vanish.
Somehow, most of the life on Earth perished in a brief moment of geologic time
roughly 250 million years ago. Scientists call it the Permian-Triassic
extinction or "the Great Dying" -- not to be confused with the better-known
Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction that signaled the end of the dinosaurs 65 million
years ago. Whatever happened during the Permian-Triassic period was much worse:
No class of life was spared from the devastation. Trees, plants, lizards,
proto-mammals, insects, fish, mollusks, and microbes -- all were nearly wiped
out. Roughly 9 in 10 marine species and 7 in 10 land species vanished. Life on
our planet almost came to an end.
Scientists have suggested many possible causes for the Great Dying: severe
volcanism, a nearby supernova, environmental changes wrought by the formation of
a super-continent, the devastating impact of a large asteroid -- or some
combination of these. Proving which theory is correct has been difficult. The
trail has grown cold over the last quarter billion years; much of the evidence
has been destroyed.
"These rocks have been through a lot, geologically speaking, and a lot of times
they don't preserve the (extinction) boundary very well," says Luann Becker, a
geologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Indeed, there are few
250 million-year-old rocks left on Earth. Most have been recycled by our
planet's tectonic activity.
Undaunted, Becker led a NASA-funded science team to sites in Hungary, Japan and
China where such rocks still exist and have been exposed. There they found
telltale signs of a collision between our planet and an asteroid 6 to 12 km
across -- in other words, as big or bigger than Mt. Everest.
Many paleontologists have been skeptical of the theory that an asteroid caused
the extinction. Early studies of the fossil record suggested that the die-out
happened gradually over millions of years -- not suddenly like an impact event.
But as their methods for dating the disappearance of species has improved,
estimates of its duration have shrunk from millions of years to between 8,000
and 100,000 years. That's a blink of the eye in geological terms.
"I think paleontologists are now coming full circle and leading the way, saying
that the extinction was extremely abrupt," Becker notes. "Life vanished quickly
on the scale of geologic time, and it takes something catastrophic to do that."
Such evidence is merely circumstantial -- it doesn't actually prove anything.
Becker's evidence, however, is more direct and persuasive:
Deep inside Permian-Triassic rocks, Becker's team found soccer ball-shaped
molecules called "fullerenes" (or "buckyballs") with traces of helium and argon
gas trapped inside. The fullerenes held an unusual number of 3He and 36Ar atoms
-- isotopes that are more common in space than on Earth. Something, like a comet
or an asteroid, must have brought the fullerenes to our planet.
Becker's team had previously found such gas-bearing buckyballs in rock layers
associated with two known impact events: the 65 million-year-old
Cretaceous-Tertiary impact and the 1.8 billion-year-old Sudbury impact crater in
Ontario, Canada. They also found fullerenes containing similar gases in some
meteorites. Taken together, these clues make a compelling case that a space rock
struck the Earth at the time of the Great Dying.
But was an asteroid the killer, or merely an accomplice?
Many scientists believe that life was already struggling when the putative space
rock arrived. Our planet was in the throes of severe volcanism. In a region that
is now called Siberia, 1.5 million cubic kilometers of lava flowed from an
awesome fissure in the crust. (For comparison, Mt. St. Helens unleashed about
one cubic kilometer of lava in 1980.) Such an eruption would have scorched vast
expanses of land, clouded the atmosphere with dust, and released
climate-altering greenhouse gases.
World geography was also changing then. Plate tectonics pushed the continents
together to form the super-continent Pangea and the super-ocean Panthalassa.
Weather patterns and ocean currents shifted, many coastlines and their shallow
marine ecosystems vanished, sea levels dropped.
"If life suddenly has all these different things happen to it," Becker says,
"and then you slam it with a rock the size of Mt. Everest -- boy! That's just
really bad luck."
Was the "crime" then merely an accident? Perhaps so. Nevertheless, it's wise to
identify the suspects -- an ongoing process -- before it happens again.
Editor's note: Becker's colleagues include Robert Poreda and Andrew Hunt from
the University of Rochester, NY; Ted Bunch of the NASA Ames Research Center; and
Michael Rampino of New York University and NASA's Goddard Institute of Space
Sciences. Funding for the research was provided by NASA's Astrobiology and
Cosmochemistry programs and the National Science Foundation.
==============
(4) MASS EXTINCTION IMPACTS MAY HAVE SPREAD MICROBIAL LIFE TO OTHER WORLDS
BBC News Online, 18 March 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4819370.stmBy Paul Rincon
BBC News science reporter, Houston , Texas
Terrestrial rocks blown into space by asteroid impacts on Earth could have taken
life to Saturn's moon Titan, scientists have announced.
Earth microbes in these meteorites could have seeded the organic-rich world with
life, researchers believe.
They think the impact on Earth that killed off the dinosaurs could have ejected
enough material for some to reach far-off moons such as Titan.
Details were unveiled at a major science conference in Houston, US.
The theory of panspermia holds that life on planets like Earth and Mars was
seeded from space, perhaps hitching a ride on meteorites and comets.
To get terrestrial, life-bearing rocks to escape the Earth's atmosphere and
reach space requires an impact by an asteroid or comet between 10 and 50km
across. Only a handful of recorded strikes in geological history fit the bill.
Million-year journey
One of them is the asteroid strike 65 million years ago, which punched a crater
between 160 and 240km wide in what is today the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Brett Gladman, from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, and
colleagues calculated that about 600 million fragments from such an impact would
escape from Earth into an orbit around the Sun.
Some of these would have escape velocities such that they could get to Jupiter
and Saturn in roughly a million years.
Using computer models, they plotted the behaviour of these fragments once they
were in orbit. From this, they calculated the expected number that would hit
certain moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
The principal targets they chose, Titan and Europa, are of considerable interest
to astrobiologists, the community of researchers who study the origin of life on
Earth and its implications for the habitability of other planetary bodies.
Titan is rich in organic compounds, which provide a potential energy source for
primitive life forms, Europa is thought to harbour a liquid water ocean under
its thick crust of ice.
Hitting at speed
Dr Gladman's team calculated that up to 20 terrestrial rocks from a large impact
on Earth would reach Titan. These would strike Titan's upper atmosphere at 10-15
km/s. At this velocity, the cruise down to the surface might be comfortable
enough for microbes to survive the journey.
But the news was more bleak for Europa. By contrast with the handful that hit
Titan, about 100 terrestrial meteoroids hit the icy moon.
But Jupiter's gravity boosts their speed such that they strike Europa's surface
at an average 25 km/s, with some hitting at 40 km/s. Dr Gladman said other
scientists had investigated the survival of amino acids hitting a planetary
surface at this speed and they were "not good".
"It's frustrating if you're a microbe that's been wandering the Universe for a
million years to then die striking the surface of Europa," Dr Gladman mused.
Asked after his presentation by one scientist whether he thought microbes would
be able to survive Titan's freezing temperatures, Dr Gladman answered: "That's
for you people to decide, I'm just the pizza delivery boy."
The UBC researcher gave his presentation at the astrobiology session held at the
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.
Copyright 2006, BBC