Sedimentary record from Patagonia, southern Chile supports cosmic-impact triggering of biomass burning, climate change, and megafaunal extinctions at 12.8 ka

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dc.contributor.authorPino, Mario
dc.contributor.authorAbarzua, Ana M.
dc.contributor.authorAstorga, Giselle
dc.contributor.authorMartel Cea, Alejandra
dc.contributor.authorCossio Montecinos, Nathalie
dc.contributor.authorNavarro Harris, Ximena
dc.contributor.authorLira, Maria Paz
dc.contributor.authorLabarca, Rafael
dc.contributor.authorLeCompte, Malcolm A.
dc.contributor.authorAdedeji, Victor
dc.contributor.authorMoore, Christopher R.
dc.contributor.authorBunch, Ted E.
dc.contributor.authorMooney, Charles
dc.contributor.authorWolbach, Wendy S.
dc.contributor.authorWest, Allen
dc.contributor.authorKennett, James P.
dc.date2019
dc.date.accessioned2021-04-30T17:06:08Z
dc.date.available2021-04-30T17:06:08Z
dc.description.abstractThe Younger Dryas (YD) impact hypothesis posits that fragments of a large, disintegrating asteroid/ comet struck North America, South America, Europe, and western Asia -12,800 years ago. Multiple airbursts/impacts produced theYD boundary layer (YDB), depositing peak concentrations of platinum, high-temperature spherules, meltglass, and nanodiamonds, forming an isochronous datum at >50 sites across similar to 50 million km(2)of Earth's surface. This proposed event triggered extensive biomass burning, brief impact winter, YD climate change, and contributed to extinctions of late Pleistocene megafauna. In the most extensive investigation south of the equator, we report on a similar to 12,800-year-old sequence at Pilauco, Chile (similar to 40 degrees S), that exhibits peak YD boundary concentrations of platinum, gold, high-temperature iron- and chromium-rich spherules, and native iron particles rarely found in nature. A major peak in charcoal abundance marks an intense biomass-burning episode, synchronous with dramatic changes in vegetation, including a high-disturbance regime, seasonality in precipitation, and warmer conditions. This is anti-phased with northern-hemispheric cooling at the YD onset, whose rapidity suggests atmospheric linkage. The sudden disappearance of megafaunal remains and dung fungi in the YDB layer at Pilauco correlates with megafaunal extinctions across the Americas. The Pilauco record appears consistent with YDB impact evidence found at sites on four continents.
dc.identifier.citationSCIENTIFIC REPORTS,Vol.9,,2019
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41598-018-38089-y
dc.identifier.urihttp://repositoriodigital.uct.cl/handle/10925/4063
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
dc.sourceSCIENTIFIC REPORTS
dc.titleSedimentary record from Patagonia, southern Chile supports cosmic-impact triggering of biomass burning, climate change, and megafaunal extinctions at 12.8 ka
dc.typeArticle
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