A Recent Ice Age Was Triggered by a Firestorm Bigger Than The One That Killed The Dinosaurs

In a hugely detailed and comprehensive new study, researchers have painted a picture of how around a tenth of Earth’s surface suddenly became covered in roaring fires at a point some 12,800 years ago.

more…

Tau.Neutrino said:

A Recent Ice Age Was Triggered by a Firestorm Bigger Than The One That Killed The Dinosaurs

In a hugely detailed and comprehensive new study, researchers have painted a picture of how around a tenth of Earth’s surface suddenly became covered in roaring fires at a point some 12,800 years ago.

more…

Bloody hell, what a completely shit article.

I’ve been wondering whether any ash layer, either volcanic of from fires, has been observed in idea cores at the start of any ice age. I hadn’t seen any mentioned so assume that none existed.

I must admit to feeling a mental shiver at seeing the age 12,800 years. I’ve struck that date before.

Abstract 1.

The Younger Dryas boundary (YDB) cosmic-impact hypothesis is based on considerable evidence that Earth collided with fragments of a disintegrating ≥100-km-diameter comet, the remnants of which persist within the inner solar system ∼12,800 y later. Evidence suggests that the YDB cosmic impact triggered an “impact winter” and the subsequent Younger Dryas (YD) climate episode, biomass burning, late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, and human cultural shifts and population declines. The cosmic impact deposited anomalously high concentrations of platinum over much of the Northern Hemisphere, as recorded at 26 YDB sites at the YD onset, including the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 ice core, in which platinum deposition spans ∼21 y (∼12,836–12,815 cal BP). The YD onset also exhibits increased dust concentrations, synchronous with the onset of a remarkably high peak in ammonium, a biomass-burning aerosol. In four ice-core sequences from Greenland, Antarctica, and Russia, similar anomalous peaks in other combustion aerosols occur, including nitrate, oxalate, acetate, and formate, reflecting one of the largest biomass-burning episodes in more than 120,000 y. In support of widespread wildfires, the perturbations in CO2 records from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, suggest that biomass burning at the YD onset may have consumed ∼10 million km ² , or ∼9% of Earth’s terrestrial biomass. The ice record is consistent with YDB impact theory that extensive impact-related biomass burning triggered the abrupt onset of an impact winter, which led, through climatic feedbacks, to the anomalous YD climate episode.

Abstract 2.

Part 1 of this study investigated evidence of biomass burning in global ice records, and here we continue to test the hypothesis that an impact event at the Younger Dryas boundary (YDB) caused an anomalously intense episode of biomass burning at ∼12.8 ka on a multicontinental scale (North and South America, Europe, and Asia). Quantitative analyses of charcoal and soot records from 152 lakes, marine cores, and terrestrial sequences reveal a major peak in biomass burning at the Younger Dryas (YD) onset that appears to be the highest during the latest Quaternary. For the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (K-Pg) impact event, concentrations of soot were previously utilized to estimate the global amount of biomass burned, and similar measurements suggest that wildfires at the YD onset rapidly consumed ∼10 million km ² of Earth’s surface, or ∼9% of Earth’s biomass, considerably more than for the K-Pg impact. Bayesian analyses and age regressions demonstrate that ages for YDB peaks in charcoal and soot across four continents are synchronous with the ages of an abundance peak in platinum in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core and of the YDB impact event (12,835–12,735 cal BP). Thus, existing evidence indicates that the YDB impact event caused an anomalously large episode of biomass burning, resulting in extensive atmospheric soot/dust loading that triggered an “impact winter.” This, in turn, triggered abrupt YD cooling and other climate changes, reinforced by climatic feedback mechanisms, including Arctic sea ice expansion, rerouting of North American continental runoff, and subsequent ocean circulation changes.

This bit is particularly interesting because previous analyses have claimed that the Younger Dryas did not affect Antarctica.

“In four ice-core sequences from Greenland, Antarctica, and Russia, similar anomalous peaks in other combustion aerosols occur, including nitrate, oxalate, acetate, and formate, reflecting one of the largest biomass-burning episodes in more than 120,000 y. In support of widespread wildfires, the perturbations in CO2 records from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica …”

See also https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younger_Dryas

Interesting, Moll.

There was a link in the article in the opening post to this too (but it is also annoyingly written)-
https://sciencealert.com/ancient-stone-carvings-show-a-comet-hitting-earth-in-10-950-bc-and-changing-civilisation-forever

I wonder if ancient artworks in Australia tell stories as well.

ruby said:

Interesting, Moll.

There was a link in the article in the opening post to this too (but it is also annoyingly written)-
https://sciencealert.com/ancient-stone-carvings-show-a-comet-hitting-earth-in-10-950-bc-and-changing-civilisation-forever

I wonder if ancient artworks in Australia tell stories as well.

Here’s the original paper. I haven’t read it yet and don’t know how other archaeologists have responded to this interpretation of the symbols.

http://maajournal.com/Issues/2017/Vol17-1/Sweatman%20and%20Tsikritsis%2017%281%29.pdf

ruby said:

Interesting, Moll.

There was a link in the article in the opening post to this too (but it is also annoyingly written)-
https://sciencealert.com/ancient-stone-carvings-show-a-comet-hitting-earth-in-10-950-bc-and-changing-civilisation-forever

I wonder if ancient artworks in Australia tell stories as well.

Also the abstracts say nothing about Australia; one specifically mentions “four continents”.

So what evidence do we have for the influence of this event on Australia?

The Rev Dodgson said:

ruby said:

Interesting, Moll.

There was a link in the article in the opening post to this too (but it is also annoyingly written)-
https://sciencealert.com/ancient-stone-carvings-show-a-comet-hitting-earth-in-10-950-bc-and-changing-civilisation-forever

I wonder if ancient artworks in Australia tell stories as well.

Also the abstracts say nothing about Australia; one specifically mentions “four continents”.

So what evidence do we have for the influence of this event on Australia?

Original article mentions pine tree pollen-
‘One of the pieces of analysis carried out was on patterns in pollen levels, which suggested pine forests were suddenly burned off to be replaced by poplar trees’

The Rev Dodgson said:

ruby said:

Interesting, Moll.

There was a link in the article in the opening post to this too (but it is also annoyingly written)-
https://sciencealert.com/ancient-stone-carvings-show-a-comet-hitting-earth-in-10-950-bc-and-changing-civilisation-forever

I wonder if ancient artworks in Australia tell stories as well.

Also the abstracts say nothing about Australia; one specifically mentions “four continents”.

So what evidence do we have for the influence of this event on Australia?

No evidence yet, so far as I can tell. Evidence in Europe and Greenland is overwhelming. Evidence in North America is very strong, but with some uncertainty about the date +-100 years. Evidence from Antarctica is new, so needs confirmation. Not sure whether the fourth continent they’re referring to is Asia or other.

ruby said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

ruby said:

Interesting, Moll.

There was a link in the article in the opening post to this too (but it is also annoyingly written)-
https://sciencealert.com/ancient-stone-carvings-show-a-comet-hitting-earth-in-10-950-bc-and-changing-civilisation-forever

I wonder if ancient artworks in Australia tell stories as well.

Also the abstracts say nothing about Australia; one specifically mentions “four continents”.

So what evidence do we have for the influence of this event on Australia?

Original article mentions pine tree pollen-
‘One of the pieces of analysis carried out was on patterns in pollen levels, which suggested pine forests were suddenly burned off to be replaced by poplar trees’

12000 years ago aboriginals in Australia were using fire as a cultivation method. This would make a firestorm very unlikely here.

Tamb said:

ruby said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Also the abstracts say nothing about Australia; one specifically mentions “four continents”.

So what evidence do we have for the influence of this event on Australia?

Original article mentions pine tree pollen-
‘One of the pieces of analysis carried out was on patterns in pollen levels, which suggested pine forests were suddenly burned off to be replaced by poplar trees’

12000 years ago aboriginals in Australia were using fire as a cultivation method. This would make a firestorm very unlikely here.

I doubt that limited cultivation would prevent a firestorm if there was direct impact in Australia.

Even if it did, the resulting climate changes from the fires in the rest of the World would affect Australia.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tamb said:

ruby said:

Original article mentions pine tree pollen-
‘One of the pieces of analysis carried out was on patterns in pollen levels, which suggested pine forests were suddenly burned off to be replaced by poplar trees’

12000 years ago aboriginals in Australia were using fire as a cultivation method. This would make a firestorm very unlikely here.

I doubt that limited cultivation would prevent a firestorm if there was direct impact in Australia.

Even if it did, the resulting climate changes from the fires in the rest of the World would affect Australia.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tamb said:

ruby said:

Original article mentions pine tree pollen-
‘One of the pieces of analysis carried out was on patterns in pollen levels, which suggested pine forests were suddenly burned off to be replaced by poplar trees’

12000 years ago aboriginals in Australia were using fire as a cultivation method. This would make a firestorm very unlikely here.

I doubt that limited cultivation would prevent a firestorm if there was direct impact in Australia.

Even if it did, the resulting climate changes from the fires in the rest of the World would affect Australia.

According to the Wet Tropics people aboriginal fire practices 30000 or more years ago initially created massive firestorms throughout Australia. After that ,fire practice was much more localised.
I agree about the climate change though.