Meteorite Strike May Have Wiped Out Mammoths, Early Human Culture

The Daily Mail reports about discovery of new evidence pointing to a meteor strike approximately 12,000 years ago that may have plunged the world into a cold snap, and led to the end of various large fauna and the Clovis culture. Some highlights:

Scientists have found compelling evidence that a meteorite storm hit the earth more than 12,000 years ago, and is likely to have been responsible for the extinction of a prehistoric people and giant animals including mammoths.

Evidence of the meteorite’s intense heat was found on two continents. The researchers believe the huge cosmic impact triggered a vicious cold snap, which caused widespread destruction.

The international team found a substance known as melt glass, which forms at temperatures of 1,7000 to 2,200 degrees Celcius and can result from a ‘cosmic body’ hitting the earth.The material was found in a thin layer of rock in Pennsylvania and South Carolina in the US, along with Syria. Tests confirmed the material was not of cosmic, volcanic or human-made origin.

‘The extreme temperatures required are equal to those of an atomic bomb blast, high enough to make sand melt and boil,’ said James Kennett, professor of earth science at UC Santa Barbara.

The melt-glass appears identical to other material found in Meteor Crater in Arizona, and the Australasian tektite field, and also matches melt-glass produced by the 1945 Trinity nuclear airburst in New Mexico in the US, Professor Kennett said.

The team's findings support the controversial theory that an asteroid impact occurred 12,900 years ago and triggered the start of an unusual cold period on Earth, leading to widespread extinction of human and animal life.

In the cold period, known as the Younger Dryas, North American megafauna including mammoths and giant ground sloths disappeared forever, along with a prehistoric civilisation called the Clovis culture.

The Clovis people had nothing that could be considered a civilization--they didn't build cities or have a written language--but they are known because of their advances in fashioning stone spear points.

I find this article interesting for two reasons. First, it is yet another assault on uniformitarianism, which was used as an argument against many of the disasters set forth in scriptures, and still informs much of the environmental debate. Second, it illustrates that great disasters have occurred relatively recently. These are not things that only happened millions of years ago, but could occur again at any time.