A 12,800-year-old layer with cometary dust, microspherules, and platinum anomaly recorded in multiple cores from Baffin Bay
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10500686" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10500686 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=yM5YBtfmtG" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=yM5YBtfmtG</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328347" target="_blank" >10.1371/journal.pone.0328347</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
A 12,800-year-old layer with cometary dust, microspherules, and platinum anomaly recorded in multiple cores from Baffin Bay
Original language description
The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) posits that similar to 12,800 years ago Earth encountered the debris stream of a disintegrating comet, triggering hemisphere-wide airbursts, atmospheric dust loading, and the deposition of a distinctive suite of extraterrestrial (ET) impact proxies at the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB). Until now, evidence supporting this hypothesis has come only from terrestrial sediment and ice-core records. Here we report the first discovery of similar impact-related proxies in ocean sediments from four marine cores in Baffin Bay that span the YDB layer at water depths of 0.5-2.4 km, minimizing the potential for modern contamination. Using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and laser ablation ICP-MS, we detect synchronous abundance peaks of metallic debris geochemically consistent with cometary dust, co-occurring with iron- and silica-rich microspherules (4-163 mu m) that are predominantly of terrestrial origin with minor (<2 wt%) ET contributions. These microspherules were likely formed by low-altitude touchdown airbursts and surface impacts of comet fragments and were widely dispersed. In addition, single-particle ICP-TOF-MS analysis reveals nanoparticles (<1 mu m) enriched in platinum, iridium, nickel, and cobalt. Similar platinum-group element anomalies at the YDB have been documented at dozens of sites worldwide, strongly suggesting an ET source. Collectively, these findings provide robust support for the YDIH. The impact event likely triggered massive meltwater flooding, iceberg calving, and a temporary shutdown of thermohaline circulation, contributing to abrupt Younger Dryas cooling. Our identification of a YDB impact layer in deep marine sediments underscores the potential of oceanic records to broaden our understanding of this catastrophic event and its climatological impacts.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10505 - Geology
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA23-06075S" target="_blank" >GA23-06075S: Environmental changes caused by extraterrestrial impacts and volcanism: Evidence from lake sediments</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
PLoS One
ISSN
1932-6203
e-ISSN
1932-6203
Volume of the periodical
20
Issue of the periodical within the volume
8
Country of publishing house
US - UNITED STATES
Number of pages
45
Pages from-to
e0328347
UT code for WoS article
001546005400050
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105012594082