Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-hn9fh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-09-08T15:07:10.735Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On impacts and extinction: biological solutions to biological problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Rodney M. Feldmann
Rodney M. Feldmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

There appears to be an overwhelming urge in the study of earth sciences currently to discover the “cosmic generality.” Certainly, no observational and descriptive aspects of the study of earth history can be concluded until one has placed the observations into a broader context. On the other hand, there are not very many “cosmic generalities” and few lasting generalizations have been developed before the basic data have been gathered. When generalizations do precede observations, the former fall into the category of testable hypotheses or speculations, depending upon the overall plausibility of the ideas and the generosity of the reader.

Information

Type
Comment
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 151 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alvarez, L. W., Alvarez, W. L., Asaro, F., and Michel, H. V. 1980. Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Science, 208:1095–1108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bohor, B. F., Modreski, P.-J., and Foord, E. E. 1987. Shocked quartz in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary clays: evidence for a global distribution. Science, 236:705–709.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boucot, A. J. 1988. Periodic extinctions within the Cenozoic. Nature, 331:395–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clube, S. V. M., and Napier, W. M. 1984. Terrestrial catastrophism—nemesis or galaxy? Nature, 311:635–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crocket, J. H., Officer, C. B., Wezel, F. C., and Johnson, G. D. 1988. Distribution of noble metals across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary at Gubbio, Italy: iridium variation as a constraint on the duration and nature of Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary events. Geology, 16:77–80.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, W. C., Aronson, J. L., Millard, H. T. Jr., and Gierlowski-Kordesch, E. 1989. The origin of the clay minerals at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in Denmark. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 101:702–710.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raup, D. M., and Sepkoski, J. J. Jr. 1984. Periodicity of extinctions in the geologic past. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., 81:801–805.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sadler, P. M. 1981. Sediment accumulation rates and the completeness of stratigraphic sections. Journal of Geology, 89:569–585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Signor, P. W. III, and Lipps, J. H. 1982. Sampling bias, gradual extinction patterns and catastrophes in the fossil record, p. 291–296. In, Silver, L. T. and Schultz, P. H. (eds.), Geological Implications of Impacts of Large Asteroids and Comets on the Earth. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 190.Google Scholar
Van Valen, L. M. 1984. The case against impact extinctions. Nature, 311:17–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmire, D. P., and Jackson, A. A. IV. 1984. Are periodic mass extinctions driven by a distant solar companion? Nature, 308:713–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zoller, W. H., Parrington, J. R., and Phelan Kotra, J. M. 1983. Iridium enrichment in airborne particles from Kilauea Volcano: January 1983. Science, 222:1118–1121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed