Nanodiamonds in the Younger Dryas Boundary Sediment Layer

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bement L ; Bunch TE ; Kennett DJ ; Kennett JP ; Mercer C ; Que Hee SS ; Sellers M ; West A ; Wolbach WS
• Description:
  We report abundant nanodiamonds in sediments dating to 12.9 +/- 0.1 thousand calendar years before the present at multiple locations across North America. Selected area electron diffraction patterns reveal two diamond allotropes in this boundary layer but not above or below that interval. Cubic diamonds form under high temperature-pressure regimes, and n-diamonds also require extraordinary conditions, well outside the range of Earth's typical surficial processes but common to cosmic impacts. N-diamond concentrations range from approx. equal to 10 to 3700 parts per billion by weight, comparable to amounts found in known impact layers. These diamonds provide strong evidence for Earth's collision with a rare swarm of carbonaceous chondrites or comets at the onset of the Younger Dryas cool interval, producing multiple airbursts and possible surface impacts, with severe repercussions for plants, animals, and humans in North America. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Geology Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Environmental Physiology Geologic Formations Nanomaterials Natural Disasters
• ISSN:
  0036-8075
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; California ; Illinois ; Oklahoma ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  94
• Volume:
  323
• Issue:
  5910
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058364
• Citation:
  Science 2009 Jan; 323(5910):94
• Contact Point Address:
  D. J. Kennett, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
• Email:
  dkennett@uoregon.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Science
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8f07fee628e9962976d2454631654941ef328aa97345e421ab9ab38d7288b10a800ac8fb6e9c1c20b97665882cb8126b7c57f0927d610ae2a63977978f04a4de
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221479/cdc_221479_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 148.32 KB ]