The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) at 20 Years: Scientific Revolution or Science off the Rails?
The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) at 20 Years: Scientific Revolution or Science off the Rails?
Session ID#: 280077
Session Description:
The YDIH first appeared in a 2006 book led by Richard Firestone and Allen West and announced to the scientific community at the May 2007 AGU Joint Assembly. Data from the book were presented as evidence that comet fragments collided with the Earth, initiated the Younger Dryas climate reversal, terminated the Clovis culture, and caused the extinction of North American megafauna. This was met with widespread skepticism by geophysicists, planetary scientists, and other experts, leading to the debate-style session at the 2009 AGU Fall meeting: “Younger Dryas Boundary: Extraterrestrial Impact or Not?”. This session encourages presentations focused on new arguments and data (both for and against), reviews of published evidence, and comparisons to other controversial hypotheses in Earth science. Examples include the K/Pg impact hypothesis which is now widely accepted and taught as part of the natural science curriculum, and the “small comets” hypothesis which has now been totally forgotten.
Co-Sponsor(s):
- GC - Global Environmental Change
- NH - Natural Hazards
- P - Planetary Sciences
- SY - Science and Society
Index Terms:
1605 Abrupt/rapid climate change [GLOBAL CHANGE]
4312 Catastrophe and catastrophe theory [NATURAL HAZARDS]
4901 Abrupt/rapid climate change [PALEOCEANOGRAPHY]
6022 Impact phenomena [PLANETARY SCIENCES: COMETS AND SMALL BODIES]
Primary Convener: Mark Boslough, University of New Mexico, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Albuquerque, United States
Conveners: Christian Koeberl, University of Vienna, Department of Lithospheric Research, Vienna, Austria, Philippe Claeys, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Archaeology, Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry Research Group (AMGC), Brussels, Belgium and Dr. Elizabeth A Silber, PhD, University of Western Ontario, Department of Earth Sciences, London, ON, Canada
See more of: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology