TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact event at the permian-triassic boundary
T2 - Evidence from extraterrestrial noble gases in fullerenes
AU - Becker, L.
AU - Poreda, R. J.
AU - Hunt, A. G.
AU - Bunch, T. E.
AU - Rampino, M.
PY - 2001/2/23
Y1 - 2001/2/23
N2 - The Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) event, which occurred about 251.4 million years ago, is marked by the most severe mass extinction in the geologic record. Recent studies of some PTB sites indicate that the extinctions occurred very abruptly, consistent with a catastrophic, possibly extraterrestrial, cause. Fullerenes (C60 to C200) from sediments at the PTB contain trapped helium and argon with isotope ratios similar to the planetary component of carbonaceous chondrites. These data imply that an impact event (asteroidal or cometary) accompanied the extinction, as was the case for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event about 65 million years ago.
AB - The Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) event, which occurred about 251.4 million years ago, is marked by the most severe mass extinction in the geologic record. Recent studies of some PTB sites indicate that the extinctions occurred very abruptly, consistent with a catastrophic, possibly extraterrestrial, cause. Fullerenes (C60 to C200) from sediments at the PTB contain trapped helium and argon with isotope ratios similar to the planetary component of carbonaceous chondrites. These data imply that an impact event (asteroidal or cometary) accompanied the extinction, as was the case for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event about 65 million years ago.
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U2 - 10.1126/science.1057243
DO - 10.1126/science.1057243
M3 - Article
C2 - 11222855
AN - SCOPUS:0035936835
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 291
SP - 1530
EP - 1533
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 5508
ER -