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The identification of airbursts in the past: insights from the BIT-58 layer

van Ginneken, Matthias, Harvey, Ralph P., Goderis, Steven, Artemieva, Natalia, Boslough, Mark, Maeda, Ryoga, Gattacceca, Jérôme, Folco, Luigi, Yamaguchi, Akira, Sonzogni, Corinne, and others. (2024) The identification of airbursts in the past: insights from the BIT-58 layer. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 627 . Article Number 118562. ISSN 0012-821X. E-ISSN 1385-013X. (doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118562) (KAR id:106695)

Abstract

Airbursts are estimated to be the most frequent type of destructive impact events. Yet, confirmation of these events is elusive, resulting in a major gap in the impact record of Earth. The recent discovery of igneous chondritic spherules produced during a new type of touchdown airburst 430 thousand years (kyr) ago over Antarctica, in which a projectile vapor jet interacts with the Antarctic ice sheet, provided the first trace of such an impact in the geological record. In terms of petrology and geochemistry, particles constituting the BIT-58 dust horizon, which was found in surface ice at near Allan Hills in Antarctica, are almost identical to those produced 430 kyr ago. We demonstrate here that BIT-58 particles were indeed formed during a touchdown event between 2.3 and 2.7 million years (Myr) ago. This represents the oldest record of an airburst on Earth identified to date. Slight geochemical differences with 430 kyr old airburst spherules provide additional constraints on spherule condensation in large airburst plumes. Finding confirmation of airbursts in the paleorecord can provide insight into the frequency of the most hazardous impacts and, thus, has implications for planetary defence.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118562
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy > QB651 Planets, Minor
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Funders: Science and Technology Facilities Council (https://ror.org/057g20z61)
Depositing User: Mark Burchell
Date Deposited: 26 Jul 2024 08:38 UTC
Last Modified: 31 Jul 2024 08:20 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/106695 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

van Ginneken, Matthias.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2508-7021
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Wozniakiewicz, Penelope J..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1441-4883
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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