SN: Signs of giant comet impacts found in cores

[neufer]

Deluge, n. [F. déluge, L. diluvium, fr. diluere wash away;
_________ di- = dis- + luere, equiv. to lavare to wash.]

Delusion n. [L. delusio, fr. deludere]

Delude, v. t. [L. deludere, delusum; de- + ludere to play, make sport of, mock. See Ludicrous.]

[swainy]

The links I posted are by the by. The important stuff is what I wrote, And hopefully some body will look into it, in greater detail.

Sorry, Mark. When you use pseudo-scientific sources as the basis of your musings, very few people are going to give it serious consideration.

And every body learned something to day. Job done I'd say.

[swainy]

Here's some other links to think about.


http://www.dailycommonsense.com/the-las ... in-a-year/
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/world/L ... 4351045.jp
http://www.livescience.com/environment/ ... e-age.html


Fast ice age? You would almost think the Sun actually does go out, Huh?

tc

[bystander]

Debate Heats Up Over Meteor's Role in Ice Age
Space.com | Science | 26 July 2010

Some scientists have thought that the Earth's Ice Age conditions 12,900 years ago were triggered by a meteor or comet. But a recent study suggests that the evidence pointing to the ancient impact is nothing more than fungus and other matter.

According to the impact theory, the event could have caused the extinction of North American mammoths and other species, and killed the early human hunters that occupied North America at the time. Yet the new study concludes that sediment samples taken as evidence of the impact are nothing more than common fossilized balls of fungus and fecal matter - not exactly signs of a space rock crashing into Earth.

Further, the samples -- spherules of carbon used by impact proponents to justify a meteor -- appear thousands of years before and after the Ice Age in sediment records, suggesting they have nothing to do with the impact, scientists said in a statement.

"People get very excited about the idea of a major impact causing a catastrophic fire and the abrupt climate change in that period, but there just isn't the evidence to support it," said lead researcher Andrew C. Scott at the University of London in the UK.

Still, proponents of an impact theory are not backing down.

According to theory, a comet impact or airburst in the atmosphere produced an enormous fire that raged from California to Europe. Melting volumes of ice in the North American ice sheet, the fire sent cold water surging into the world's oceans and knocked off balance the circulation of currents responsible for global heat transport.

Known as the Younger Dryas period or "Big Freeze," the 1,300 years of glacial conditions that followed is well documented in ocean cores and ancient soil samples.
...
The debate may heat up when both sides, including Pinter and Kennett, participate in a public debate at the University of Wyoming Aug. 14.

[Beyond]

The bad news is that we can not blame the politicians for the ice age. There were no politicians back then. The Good News is now that we have politicians we CAN blame them for Global Warming It should be nice and warm around Washinton D.C. when congress is in session

[neufer]

Where Did The Mammoths Really Go?
University of Washington | Northwest Science & Technology | Spring 2010

Fifteen thousand years ago, North America was home to roughly 35 different types of large mammals which no longer exist today, such as saber tooth cats, giant ground sloths, and mammoths. Many species weighed over two thousand pounds; a full-grown adult male mammoth could weigh up to 20,000 pounds, the weight of a city bus. Why did so many large animals die off by the end of the last ice age? It's rare to find a mystery as enigmatic or hotly debated as the cause for the disappearance of North America's largest known mammals.

Well-preserved strawberry-blond mammoth discovered in Siberia
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News, April 04, 2012

[b][color=#0000FF]April 4, 2012: A newly discovered frozen mammoth, which is thought to have been approximately two and a half years old when it died, appears to have been cut open at some point. (F Latreille/Mammuthus/MCE)[/color][/b]

---

<<A juvenile mammoth, nicknamed "Yuka," was found entombed in Siberian ice near the shores of the Arctic Ocean and shows signs of being cut open by ancient people.

The remarkably well preserved frozen carcass was discovered in Siberia as part of a BBC/Discovery Channel-funded expedition and is believed to be at least 10,000 years old, if not older. If further study confirms the preliminary findings, it would be the first mammoth carcass revealing signs of human interaction in the region. The carcass is in such good shape that much of its flesh is still intact, retaining its pink color. The blonde-red hue of Yuka's woolly coat also remains.

"This is the first relatively complete mammoth carcass -- that is, a body with soft tissues preserved -- to show evidence of human association," Daniel Fisher, curator and director of the University of Michigan's Museum of Paleontology, told Discovery News. Fisher, who is also a professor, worked with an international team of experts to analyze Yuka. French mammoth hunter Bernard Buigues of the scientific organization "Mammuthus" saved the specimen from falling into the hands of private collectors.

Although carbon dating is still in the works, the researchers believe Yuka died at least 10,000 years ago, but may be much older. The animal was about 2 ½ years old when it died. Fisher described what likely happened on that fateful day: "It appears that Yuka was pursued by one or more lions or another large field, judging from deep, unhealed scratches in the hide and bite marks on the tail," Fisher said. "Yuka then apparently fell, breaking one of the lower hind legs. At this point, humans may have moved in to control the carcass, butchering much of the animal and removing parts that they would use immediately. They may, in fact, have reburied the rest of the carcass to keep it in reserve for possible later use. What remains now would then be 'leftovers' that were never retrieved."

He explained that the removed parts include most of the main core mass of Yuka's body, including organs, vertebrae, ribs, associated musculature, and some of the meat from upper parts of the legs. The lower parts of each leg and the trunk remain intact. Buigues added that it appears the humans were particularly interested in the animal's fat and its large bones, which they kept close to the body of the carcass. He believes it is possible that a ritual may have taken place involving the bones.

Kevin Campbell of the University of Manitoba also studied Yuka. Campbell famously published the genetic code of mammoth hemoglobin a few years ago. "Most permafrost-preserved mammoth specimens consist solely of bones or bone fragments that currently provide little new insight into the species' biology in life, even if DNA can be extracted and sequenced from these samples," Campbell said. "This extremely rare finding of a near complete specimen, like the discovery of the baby mammoth Lyuba in 2007, will be a boon to researchers as it will help them link observed phenotypes (morphological features that we can see) with genotype (DNA sequences)." Such information could help reveal whether or not mammoths had all of the same hair colors that humans do. An intriguing and controversial application would be to bring a mammoth back to life via cloning. Campbell supports pursuit of that goal, saying it "may well lead to important new discoveries in bioengineering." Buigues is also in favor and said, "I'm not against having a mammoth in my garden in future."

Tim Walker, producer and director of a forthcoming BBC/Discovery Channel show called "Woolly Mammoth"that will feature Yuka, told Discovery News that cloning a mammoth could take years or even decades. "Then, if it did happen, wouldn't a single mammoth be lonely and sad?" he asked. "They were, after all, communal animals.">>